


Last Ditch Effort

by feralpossum



Series: Last Ditch Effort Universe [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band), Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Video Games)
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Basically Star Wars KOTOR II But With ATEEZ as the Main Characters, Blood, Descriptions of Anxiety Attacks, Kim Hongjoong-centric, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Other, Past Kidnapping, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Drugs, Swearing, Violence, crashing, mentions of medical procedures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:02:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22134487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feralpossum/pseuds/feralpossum
Summary: “You see, Hongjoong is a Jedi.Well...HongjoongWASa Jedi. A long time ago.”Hongjoong has had a rough past five years. Between fighting in a war, banishment from The Jedi Order, and the bounty on his head, Hongjoong had been running for the past half-decade from the past that held him hostage.It’s during this time, hopping from planet to planet, that he’s contacted by the Republic with an offer to meet on Telos. With no other option, Hongjoong accepts.Little did he know that by choosing to go, he’d be sent on a journey full of unlikely bonds, new worlds, and regaining his connection to the Force that was stripped from him long ago.He may not be the first or best choice for the hero the Galaxy needs, but he was their last-ditch effort.(Based on the storyline for Star Wars KOTOR II)
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: Last Ditch Effort Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601857
Comments: 41
Kudos: 63





	1. INTRO: End of the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction, meaning that these are fictional versions of the actual people in this story. Characters, including members of ATEEZ, will do Morally Gray/Wrong things in this story.  
> Each member may also act differently than they would in real life. This is because they're also fused with characters from KOTOR II, the game this story is based on.  
> Please do not base your opinion of ATEEZ, BTS, EXO, or any other groups shown in this story off of their depictions in this fic. Any portrayal of these groups, or members of these groups, is not my opinion of them. If I thought negatively of them, they wouldn't be included in the story.
> 
> ALSO, this story will not be very accurate towards the Star Wars movies. This story is roughly based off the storyline for the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic series, meaning that this all takes place about 4,000 years before A New Hope. Some things may seem different from the Star Wars universe that you know, unless you’re familiar with the extended universe, and some is stuff that I made up for the sake of story. There are spoilers for KotOR II in this story, though quite a bit of it has been changed or cut entirely from the original story to make it fit with ATEEZ better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Hello all! Quick little interruption for a sec here.  
> While I was working on Last Ditch, I set up a playlist for the story full of music that inspires me while I work. And at the suggestion of my writing group, I decided to also share it with all of you! If you would like to take a listen to it, I have a link to a version on Spotify and one on YouTube, for those who don't have a Spotify account. I tried to make it mostly Instrumental EDM or Orchestral music so that you can play it while you read, if that's your sort of thing. Please note that there are some Spoilers for later chapters, since I have music for the entire series already plotted out. I don't think it'll spoil anything too major though...)
> 
> [Fic Playlist (Spotify) ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3bNnRRvCvc20XyCbGRCmTO?si=VYk7RYDaQ-KvYsax2JPF3w)  
> [Fic Playlist (YouTube) ](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbdmy8EZU_E_DQblYpBi3RqC5znbQ8ZBA)  
> 

Kim Hongjoong seemed to have a history of attracting bad luck. The blaster wound to the ribs currently bleeding out at an alarming rate, was enough of an indication for him. It seemed to him that everyone nowadays wanted Hongjoong dead.

You see, Hongjoong is a Jedi.

Well...

Hongjoong _WAS_ a Jedi. A long time ago.

Unfortunately for him, it looks like no one else got the memo...

Hongjoong was an exceptional Padawan, he excelled in Lightsaber combat and using the Force. Every Jedi Master he trained with and learned from would always say the same thing; he was a remarkable Padawan and would be a strong leader. He was cool headed, open to criticism, and always ready to follow orders, perfect attributes for a Jedi Master. At least that's what everyone said.

The only complaint you'd ever hear about Kim Hongjoong from anyone was that he was stubborn, especially when it involved something he was passionate about. When it involved the lives of innocent people, Hongjoong was headstrong on keeping them safe, often acting rashly and throwing himself into the fray to make sure a family could escape. Many people thought of him as reckless for that, but Hongjoong would always put the safety of his unit and civilians higher than his own.

If you were ever to ask him why he'd be willing to charge into a squadron of mercenaries and thugs without any hesitation, he'd always shrug his shoulders and reply, "Well, that's what a Jedi is supposed to do, isn't it?"

So when the Mandalorian Wars began, and the Jedi Council chose to sit by and let the Republic and the Mandalorians sort it all out, Hongjoong was furious. Jedi were supposed to protect the people, not sit by and let them be slaughtered at the hands of these Mandalorians. At least that's what Hongjoong thought, and so did a lot of other Jedi.

When the Republic requested for aid against the imposing Mandalorian fleet, Hongjoong was one of the first to answer the cry for help. Slipping out of the academy in the middle of the night with a small number of rations, a change of clothes, and his Silver double-bladed lightsaber, Hongjoong went and offered himself as an aid to the Republic.

And he wasn't alone, there were quite a few Jedi who did the same. Among those were Kim Namjoon and Park Chanyeol, two very influential Jedi Knights. These were the two who led the Jedi and the Republic into war against the Mandalorian forces, and in that squadron was Hongjoong.

Hongjoong's hard efforts and raw skills didn't go unnoticed by his superiors, even getting him noticed by Namjoon and promoted to second in command. The two worked well together, helping the Republic drive back the Mandalorian threat farther and farther away.

However, years of war had changed the Jedi, especially Namjoon and Chanyeol. As Hongjoong sat back and watched the two bicker and squabble over what was the right way to annihilate the Mandalorians, he'd let out a frustrated sigh and wonder if he made the right choice to go against the council.

It was only after Hongjoong had seen the destruction of Malachor V that he realized he was on the wrong side. The blast wiped out hundreds of Mandalorians, but along with them were quite a few Jedi casualties, including people Hongjoong swore to protect.

Those who didn't get wiped out by the blast became corrupted with the dark side of the Force. Hongjoong watched as they all began to stray to the Dark side, had to keep Namjoon and Chanyeol from drawing their lightsabers and slashing each other into shreds with them. The final straw for Hongjoong was watching Namjoon and Chanyeol cut down an entire village in rage, the very people he swore to protect.

So late one night, he snuck out of his quarters for the last time with only a few credits, rations, a change of clothes, and the same silver double-bladed lightsaber, and found his way back to Coruscant to face the council.

Gulping down a breath of air to calm his nerves, Hongjoong pushed open the doors of the council room with shaking hands. Knowing that the council had the absolute authority to kill him on the spot for what he did sent his heart racing into his stomach, but he knew he had to face the consequences of his actions.

For more than two hours, Hongjoong was berated, interrogated, and accused of all sorts of things. Not once did he ever raise his voice or speak in his defense, he just sat and endured the constant onslaught of words. The council was shocked that Hongjoong would acknowledge his mistake and choose to come back to face the punishment. Hongjoong was the first one in almost six years to come back and face the consequences.

After hours of being in front of the council and about ready to snap, the council made a decision. They wouldn't be executing him, to the relief of Hongjoong, but instead sending him into exile. Which meant being stripped of his title of Jedi Knight, his lightsaber, and even his connection to the Force.

Hongjoong calmly dug his lightsaber from the spot it was clipped onto his belt, activated it one last time, and dug its blade into the large stone in the center before leaving the room. His once last act of rebellion.

In some ways, exile was a fate worse than death. Especially once the war against Jedi started and bounties on Jedi went up. Any Jedi was a good Jedi to take into the Exchange for the bounty, even those who had their connection to the Force ripped away from them as Hongjoong had. The past five years of Hongjoong's was mostly a blur of running from bounty hunters and doing odd jobs to stay afloat during the day, and then regretting his past actions in between a few hours of restless sleep.

That was the cycle, until about a week ago when he was contacted by a Republic general urgently requesting his help. Hongjoong was attempting to lay low at the time, avoiding the many bounty hunters that seemed to crawl the small planet, so any excuse to escape the small trashy moon that no one ever really remembered the name of was very much appreciated.

That's how Hongjoong found himself aboard The Mist, a Republic warship, on his way to Telos' Citadel Station. The three days he'd spent on that ship had been the most peace he'd had in five years, and he spent most of it catching up on sleep. Ever since he'd gotten a dose of some sort of medication to keep him from getting space sickness, Hongjoong had been feeling incredibly sluggish.

Hongjoong had no idea something was incredibly wrong until the sound of blaster fire woke him from his sleep, his head suddenly throbbing and feeling like it was full of Bantha fuzz. The floor seemed to sway under Hongjoong's feet as he pushed himself out of the bed, the blaster fire echoes growing closer. He took a moment to his steady his breaths before venturing outside, blaster tucked securely into his belt.

After rounding a corner and almost walking straight into a squadron of Sith Warriors, he knew he was incredibly outmatched. His movements were still somewhat sluggish from whatever was in the medication, and it wasn't long before a blaster shot dug itself right into the lower part of his ribs. Letting out a swear, Hongjoong turned and fled, knowing full well he wouldn't last long against them with the injuries he had.

Running deeper into the ship, Hongjoong ducked into a small storeroom and crouched low to the ground. Clutching his side, Hongjoong sucked in a breath and looked down at his side. The sticky crimson liquid staining his hand and clothing already indicated this wasn't something he would be able to walk off. A grimace crossed Hongjoong's face as he raised the shirt a bit on his stomach, letting out a string of profanities at the carnage. He was going to need a Medpac to patch this one up, otherwise, he'd end up bleeding to death on the floor of the ship.

"Come on Hongjoong, you survived a damn war against Mandalorians. You can take care of a little blaster shot to the ribs." Hongjoong muttered under his breath as he grit his teeth. Slipping the now blood-stained shirt off of his body, Hongjoong ripped the sleeves of the thin fabric and bound them around his middle. Once he was satisfied with the makeshift bandage, Hongjoong slipped what remained of the shirt over his head to keep everything in place. It wasn't the most ideal patch-up job, but Hongjoong wasn't complaining. He'd had to put up with far worse patch-ups in the past.

Noticing a worn chocolate brown jacket in the corner, Hongjoong slipped it on. Besides the slightly musty smell from lying on the floor of the closet and being a bit baggy in a few spots, it was warm and fit fairly well. Hongjoong loaded his blaster before poking his head out of the closet, making sure there wasn't another group of Sith Warriors waiting to ambush him the moment he stepped out. Once he was sure the coast was clear, Hongjoong pushed himself off the floor and began heading in the direction he was going before.

"A ship this size has to have escape pods on it somewhere..." Hongjoong thought to himself as he tried to remember where they were located. Maybe he should have looked into that while on-board, if only the medication hadn't made him so damn tired all the time. 

Letting out a groan out from under his breath, Hongjoong continued down a small hallway off to the side and stopped in his tracks. In front of him stood a small hangar, which in of itself isn't all that impressive, but the thing inside was what caught Hongjoong's interest.

A small ship, which Hongjoong assumed to be a smuggling ship of some kind. Hongjoong wasn't sure whose it was, nor how it got there, but at this point he didn't care very much for the details.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Hongjoong dashed up the loading ramp and quickly found his way to the cockpit. Collapsing into the captain's chair, Hongjoong quickly fired up the ship and maneuvered his way out of the hangar. As soon as he was at a safe enough distance from The Mist, Hongjoong shot into lightspeed. Once the other ship disappeared into space behind him, Hongjoong let out a sigh of relief.

His relief was short-lived as his stomach flashed with pain, reminding him why he was in this situation.

"There's gotta be a Medpac or Chemicals on this ship somewhere..." Hongjoong murmured to himself as he pushed himself from the chair, pausing for a moment as the room spun around him and his head began to feel like it was full of fuzz. Hongjoong cursed himself out mentally for letting his condition get this bad, he needed a Medpac. 

"The spinning has to be from blood loss, but the fuzziness almost feels like a drug of some kind." Hongjoong guessed before growling in frustration, "I knew it, those bastards drugged me. Probably were gonna sell me to the Exchange to fund their next war fleet or something." Hongjoong smacked his fist against the leather chair in rage.

Leaning against the walls of the ship, Hongjoong maneuvered his way through the seemingly endless gray halls of the ship. Along the way, he passed all kinds of assorted items, from droid parts to even a corpse. Unfortunately, no signs of Medpacs as far as Hongjoong could tell. 

After spotting a small room tucked off to the side, Hongjoong made his way over and peeked his head in. The harsh smell of Kolto hit his nostrils as he spotted some medical supplies on a small table in the room. Hongjoong pushed his way into the room and collapsed onto the small cot along the edge of the wall, relief running through his body at finding some medical supplies.

His peace was short-lived, however, as a whirring echoed from the hallway outside. Hongjoong's hand flew to the blaster still tucked into his belt and waited, hoping that there weren't Sith Warriors onboard. If that were the case, Hongjoong would be as good as dead.

To his relief, the noise was only from an old, dinged up droid that rolled into the room. Hongjoong's shoulders sagged in relief as he released his grip on the blaster.

The droid seemed shocked at another creature onboard, letting out all sorts of hostile sounding beeps and chirps.

"Whoa little guy, slow down! You're chirping too fast, I can't keep up." Hongjoong yelled, waving his hands frantically in an attempt to get the little droid to slow down.

"Bee beep beep ba bwoo!" The Droid had hostility laced in its chirps, scanning the intruder before focusing on the growing bloodstain on his shirt.

"Sorry little guy, I didn't mean to steal your ship," Hongjoong winced as his fingers grazed the soaked surface of the fabric, "I got ambushed and this was the closest way of escape I could find."

"Bwoo bwoo?" The little droid tilted its head at Hongjoong, almost resembling a living creature in a way. Hongjoong stifled a laugh at the little droid.

"Sith Warriors ambushed the ship and they got me pretty badly," Hongjoong explained as he slid the jacket off his shoulders and onto the floor, then moving to unbutton his shirt. He let out a grimace at the amount of blood that stained the makeshift bandages and his stomach.

"Bwo Bwo Boo?" The little droid chirped, Hongjoong's head shot up at the response.

"You have a Medpac?" Hongjoong asked, the droid letting out another string of beeping noises in confirmation before rolling out of the room. The whirring noise of its wheels fading deeper into the ship as Hongjoong took the shirt and began using it to apply pressure on the wound.

"Looks like this shirt has reached the end of its life," Hongjoong thought to himself as he watched the crimson stain the fabric, "Quite a shame, I liked this shirt..."

A few moments later, the droid rolled into the room with a small kit, as well as what looked like a change of clothing. Hongjoong let out a sigh of relief as he grabbed the small kit from the droid and popped it open. He quickly spotted the Medpac, as well as wipes, gauze, and a needle for stitching up injuries.

"Thank you little buddy, you're a lifesaver." Hongjoong patted the droid with the hand that wasn't soaked in blood before grabbing the Medpac out of the box. Gripping the plastic cover with his teeth, Hongjoong pulled it off and fished the small syringe full of blue liquid from the plasteel pack. He injected the liquid right about the wound and let out a sigh of relief as the burn began to numb. He grabbed a few of the wipes from the kit and cleaned up as much of the blood as he could, hissing at the sudden sting.

Hongjoong knew he would need some better medical attention, probably a bath in a Kolto Tank if he could find one, but for the time being the patch-up job would be just fine. Hongjoong cleaned the blood off of his hands and where it had dripped onto his chest as the droid watched.

Already feeling much better then he had a few minutes ago, a wave of exhaustion crashed over Hongjoong. The adrenaline from before was quickly wearing off, replaced with the fuzzy feeling in his head from before. Once he was satisfied with his work, Hongjoong grabbed the needle and some thread from the kit and began tying the string into place, the wound looked like it would need to be stitched up to heal properly.

"Bwa boo buh ba!" The droid beeped, startling Hongjoong out of his thoughts.

"Oh sorry! I'm Hongjoong," He introduced as the droid responded with more beeps. "MD-DX huh? Nice to meet you." Hongjoong patted the droid on the head as MD-DX let out a beep of appreciation.

“So what is this ship?” Hongjoong asked, MD-DX responded with a low whistle. “The Crescent? It’s a nice ship.”

Hongjoong went back to work on stitching himself up, hissing at the dull pain that flared through his ribs. MD-DX beeped in alarm at the sudden hiss of pain Hongjoong let out.

"I'm fine MD-DX, I just didn't have enough numbing agent in the Medpac. I'll live." Hongjoong explained before muttering, "It'll just hurt like a bitch." 

MD-DX let out an angry string of beeps at Hongjoong, spinning around in a circle before stopping in front of him. Hongjoong only rolled his eyes as he continued to stitch himself up.

"Fine, fine. I'll watch my language." Hongjoong grumbled as he continued, trying his best to not let out a string of curses every time the needle pierced through his skin. Once he was satisfied with his work, Hongjoong finished off the stitching and grabbed some gauze and a bandage from the Medpac.

Hongjoong let out a sigh of relief as he shucked off his bloodstained clothing and slipped into the spares MD-DX had brought. The clean fabric felt so soft against his skin, and Hongjoong couldn't remember the last time he'd had clean clothing to change into. The ex-Jedi let out a yawn and covered his mouth, the fuzziness in his head was back in full force. He had a hard time keeping his eyes open as the room began to spin.

Lowering himself onto the bunk, Hongjoong winced and attempted to steady his breathing as the pain flared up again. MD-DX beeped with concern as it watched the human struggle.

" 'M fine MD-DX, just tired is all," Hongjoong slurred, rubbing at his eyes. The drugs flowing through his body paired with the blood loss made for a bad combination. Hongjoong's head throbbed as he let out a shiver, his heartbeat going crazy despite only lying on the cot.

MD-DX let out a beep as it rolled to the other side of the room, grabbing a blanket off the shelf and bringing it over in a small claw arm. Hongjoong whispered a small thanks to the droid as he grabbed the blanket and draped it over his body, the warm fleece-like material already helping somewhat with the chill running through his body. MD-DX beeped again as Hongjoong rolled onto his side.

"Do you think we can get to Telos from here?" Hongjoong asked, MD-DX responding with beeps in response. Hongjoong frowned. According to MD-DX, the ship was barely able to run as it was. A run-in with a Sith Warship earlier was why it was on The Mist in the first place for repairs.

"Dam-, sorry. Darn." Hongjoong quickly corrected himself, "Are there any nearby planets we can land on to make repairs?"

Another set of chirps and beeps from MD-DX before he left the room, leaving Hongjoong alone on the cot once again. With no small droid to keep him company, Hongjoong's eyes quickly fell shut as another yawn escaped his mouth. The world quickly turned into an inky blob behind the small human's eyelids as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a project I've been planning on writing for a long time now, I actually started planning this back after Wave released and had to rework a lot of aspects once WONDERLAND dropped.  
> I really wanted to wait to publish this until all the chapters were released, but I just couldn't help myself. I'm seeing Star Wars today & ATEEZ's newest comeback drops in about 12 hours so I really wanted to put this out now. My plan is to have updates once a month, but these chapters are probably gonna be about 10k words or so each.
> 
> Huge thanks to MonrohaKay, one of the two writers responsible for Monroha here on AO3. She helped me to refine this fic to the point it's at, as well as always being there to bounce ideas off of. Without her, I would have gone insane trying to plot this all on my own...
> 
> Also, MD-DX is based off of the solo artist Maddox that's under KQ Entertainment! You probably already know his voice, he's the one who narrated both Intro & Outro Long Journey! I loved his song Color Blind, & I really wanted to include him in some way, so he's the droid who save Hongjoong's life. I highly recommend checking his stuff out, it's really good! (If anyone is curious as to what type of droid Maddox is, he's really similar to a T3 unit.)
> 
> Beta Reader: [@MonrohaKay](https://twitter.com/MonrohaKay)  
> (you can also find their fics under the name [Monroha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monroha/pseuds/Monroha)  
> here on AO3!)  
> Information about Fic: [Carrd](https://lastditcheffortfic.carrd.co)  
> [Last Ditch Effort OST](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3bNnRRvCvc20XyCbGRCmTO?si=crXeWVJtTBe77Xc793qi7w)


	2. STAR 1117 (Part One)

* * *

_"Open your eyes..."_

Hongjoong arose with a start as the sound of machinery coming to life echoed throughout the room. His limbs felt as if they were made of jelly and exhaustion flowed throughout his body. The ex-Jedi considered falling back asleep and napping away the sluggish feeling before he remembered the voice that had awoken him from his sleep.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Hongjoong began stretching his arms out over his head. The sterile smell of Kolto hung in the air as Hongjoong wrinkled his nose in disgust, the strong stench invading most of his senses.

"What is this place?" Hongjoong wondered to himself as he glanced around. The small, metal room he was sitting in was filled with Kolto Tanks, each occupied by someone except for the one Hongjoong currently sat in front of. Considering the Kolto smell coming from him and the still damp state of his boxers and hair, Hongjoong assumed he had previously occupied that same tank.

Allowing himself to glance around the room once more, Hongjoong's eyes came to rest on one of the tanks that were occupied. A navy blue and dark brown uniform was on his body, one that he guessed was a mining uniform.

Slowly, Hongjoong pushed himself onto unsteady legs and walked over to the Kolto Tank. After getting closer to the tank, Hongjoong noticed the glazed over look in the miner's eyes and the way he was floating. It was clear he was already dead, probably had been for a while too. A look into all the other tanks confirmed Hongjoong's suspicions.

"If they're all dead, shouldn't medical personnel have taken them out of here by now?" Hongjoong wondered, "And what could have happened to cause this? Kolto alone wouldn't have killed them." Shaking his head, Hongjoong turned around and started heading towards the exit of the room.

As soon as Hongjoong touched the handle, the door slid open with a mechanical hissing noise, revealing a deserted hallway. Hongjoong rose an eyebrow as he stepped into the narrow hallway.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" He called out, only an echo ringing back at him. Goosebumps broke out on Hongjoong's body, his mind already going into overdrive with worst-case scenarios. The door straight ahead was steaming and chugging, looking as if it were stuck. A quick attempt to shove it didn't work either, it looked like Hongjoong would have to bash it open.

Glancing at the small room on his left, Hongjoong poked his head in and called again. Still no sign of anyone around.

Noticing a computer terminal and some Plasteel Cylinders, Hongjoong stepped inside and glanced around. With still no one in sight, Hongjoong approached the computer and powered it on, the machine buzzing to life. A quick scan of its contents pulled up all sorts of medical information for each of the staff onboard the facility.

A different folder on the terminal contained log videos from the head nurse. There were only three logs in total, but Hongjoong tapped at the first video anyways in hopes it would shed some light on whatever was happening.

A crackle of static came from the terminal as a hologram of a woman came on screen, "Park Eunsol, Head Nurse of STAR 1117. Log 830-18." As the woman spoke, Hongjoong noticed her in the same uniform the others in the tanks were wearing.

As soon as the hologram said the name, Hongjoong instantly recognized it. STAR 1117 was a fuel mining facility in the Outer Rim, one that Hongjoong had considered hiding on at one point. Though with the ‘no weapons’ rule and the fishy people he'd have to share quarters with, he decided to risk a different planet instead.

"We're still examining the survivors of the damaged freighter ship that emergency docked here half a week ago. There was only one survivor, we've placed him into a Kolto Tank for recovery." A small burst of static interrupted her before continuing, "- no one else on board, besides a man. He was dead long before they ever docked with us, so there wasn't much we could do. He's been placed in the Morgue until further notice."

Hongjoong drowned out the rest, too lost in thought over the person in the morgue. Who was this mystery person, were they Sith from the attack? Is the Sith the reason there's no one around?

Hongjoong's thoughts were interrupted by the recording bursting into static, the hologram fading out. Letting out a groan in frustration, Hongjoong opened back up the logs.

"Damn, the recording must've corrupted..." Hongjoong mumbled as he played the next one, a different person than the one in the previous recording was there.

"Lee Jooeun, Assistant head nurse of STAR 1117. Log 830-21. Ms. Park has asked that I do today's log while she is busy treating the miners from today's accident."

"Accident?" Hongjoong wondered.

"The survivor of the Crescent has been recovering surprisingly well despite his injuries, he's already mostly healed. Eunsol, I'm sorry, Ms. Park theorizes he could be a Jedi. She's never seen any normal person recover as quickly as this, but she can't be certain he is a Jedi. We have to wait until the Republic can get us a transmission back before we can be sure." The woman said.

Hongjoong's breath caught in his throat, "That's not good." He mumbled as the recording went on.

"I'm worried a Jedi on board is going to cause issues. Some of the miners, especially Jisoo, are already-" The recording cut out in static for a moment again, Hongjoong letting out a swear as he smacked the console.

"Argh, damn machine!" Hongjoong smacked the side of the console in anger as the recording came back.

"-another accident today, one of the ventilation tunnels had a detonation go off. If the lockdown measures hadn't activated then the entire facility would have been obliterated. We were able to get most of the injured into Kolto Tanks just in time, but the rest had to go to the morgue. Someone said a droid caused the accident, but no one has any specifics. Yongguk is already looking into what happened." The recording ended there, leaving Hongjoong with more questions than answers.

With only one last recording to play, Hongjoong tapped the last one as the hologram reappeared.

"Park Eunsol, Head Nurse of STAR 1117. Log 830-23." The woman from the first recording was back, and Hongjoong noticed the bags under her eyes and worn down demeanor.

"A large number of mining droids have been acting oddly, not even memory wipes seem to be helping. Maintenance has no idea what's going on." The head nurse reported, "There was also another detonation in one of the fuel vents, they've been deactivated and moved to maintenance for the time being. We're still treating the plasma burns from that incident. Between the droids and injuries, we'll be lucky if we're anywhere close to what's needed for the Telos Shipment..."

Hongjoong let out a huff, "It's a miracle this place hasn't exploded already..." He muttered, "With all these accidents, it's a surprise it's still standing. It's highly likely that they evacuated the facility already."

The hologram continued, "It's so fortunate that these haven't caused a lockdown yet, I'm surprised."

The recording went through for a little longer, mostly her explaining what measures would need to be taken to make the shipment. It was of little interest to Hongjoong whether or not they would be able to make the shipment, so he mostly ignored what she said.

A sudden alarm cut through the recording as a robotic voice announced, "WARNING: There has been a fuel detonation in the mining tunnels. All personnel must report to their quarters and prepare for emergency venting countermeasures."

Hongjoong perked up as the nurse went into a frenzy, "Shit! No no no, if the ventilation systems are malfunctioning then... Everyone! Evacuate the Medbay! I repeat, evacuate the -!"

The recording cut out in a burst of static, leaving Hongjoong staring at a blank space where the recording was. Dread settled in the pit of his stomach.

Sighing, Hongjoong ran his fingers through his navy blue hair and began scanning the files for anything useful. After the frantic recording he just saw, Hongjoong had little hope of finding anything of use, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to take a glance at what else was there.

While searching, Hongjoong stumbled across a folder labeled as "Patient Treatments". Curious, he opened the file and scanned its contents.

**KOLTO TANK #1: DECEASED**

**KOLTO TANK #2: DECEASED**

**KOLTO TANK #3: RECOVERED**

**KOLTO TANK #4: DECEASED**

**KOLTO TANK #5: DECEASED**

**TREATMENT: All subjects being treated for plasma burns. Last treatment request resulted in death for all subjects except Patient #3, who was reduced to minimal life signs.**

Hongjoong's pulse sped up, quickly scrolling down to the treatment information. Reading through the information, Hongjoong's heart felt as if it would leap out of his chest if it beat any harder.

**LAST DOSAGES:**

**Methocarbamol (Administered to #3, 1.5wks ago. APPROVED BY Park Eunsol.)**

**Doxylamine (Administered to #3, 1.5wks ago. APPROVED BY Park Eunsol.)**

**Acetaminophen (Administered to #1, #2, #4, #5, 1wk ago. APPROVED BY Lee Jooeun, Assistant Head Nurse.)**

**Tetrodotoxin (Administered to #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, 3dys ago. APPROVED BY UNKNOWN)**

Clicking on files, Hongjoong sifted through file after file of data in an attempt to trace whoever administered the dosage. After about a half-hour of sifting through data files, Hongjoong let out a groan of frustration. Resting his face against his palms, he began to drag them down his face. It was a dead end as far as the identity of whoever administered the dose, but at least Hongjoong knew what he was up against.

Tetrodotoxin was a toxin that was found in a specific type of Ysalamir, that caused the nervous system to shut itself down, along with block the Force from a person for a short time. It was highly lethal for humans, though to a Jedi it could only act as a sedative for a time. Hongjoong recalled seeing a Ysalamir on Myrkr, their home planet, during the Mandalorian Wars at one point. The golden yellowish body and four black beady eyes staring back had unsettled the young Jedi more than he preferred to admit at the time.

"If they used Tetrodotoxin, that must mean that whoever did it knows I'm a Jedi. That stuff is far too expensive and rare to just use on a whim. Especially on a bunch of miners." Hongjoong guessed. Sighing, he exited out of the treatment records and instead went towards inventory stock.

**INVENTORY STOCK:**

**FOUR (4) Medpacs**

**LOCATION: Plasteel Cylinder #24, EMERGENCY SUPPLIES BIN**

**CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS**

**LOCATION: Plasteel Cylinder #10, STORAGE LOCKER**

Hongjoong smiled as he scoured the files for anything else, "At least something is going right, Medpacs are always nice to have."

After searching for a little longer, Hongjoong found a button to open up the Morgue. Since it didn't seem as if there were anything to bash the door open with besides the cylinders, which Hongjoong doubted would do much damage anyway, the ex-Jedi decided his next best choice would be the Morgue.

After opening up the morgue, Hongjoong logged off the terminal. Stopping by the storage locker and emergency supply bins, Hongjoong grabbed a small leather bag and filled it with what supplies were available before slinging it over his shoulders and heading off.

The strong stench of kolto and death welcomed Hongjoong as soon as he stepped inside the Morgue. The ex-Jedi wrinkled his nose in disgust as he glanced around the room. To Hongjoong's surprise, only two bodies remained inside. One was in a mining uniform, the other in some odd-looking robes. Assuming that everyone else so far had been in Mining Uniforms, Hongjoong guessed this was the man from the Crescent that the Head Nurse spoke about in her logs.

Seeing nothing of interest, Hongjoong instead turned his attention to the miner. Spotting a small plasma torch strapped to the other’s belt, Hongjoong walked over and quickly detached it. The weight feeling comfortable in his hand.

“Bingo!” Hongjoong thought to himself as he turned it in his hands, examining it in detail. “This should be able to pry that door open somewhat.”

“Find what you're looking for?” A voice from behind asked. Hongjoong screamed and jumped back, nearly dropping the plasma torch.

“What the hell?!” Hongjoong yelled as he whirled around, the corpse from before was now standing. A hood was drawn over most of his face, almost completely hiding his clouded silver eyes from view. Shaggy silver hair framed his face, a thin braid draped over one shoulder. This man reminded Hongjoong quite a bit of the Jedi Masters of old, one he would see meditating in the Temple courtyard. 

Hongjoong shuddered, “Who are you?”

“I am Eden. I am your rescuer, the same way that you are mine.” The stranger said. Hongjoong gaped.

“Hold on a second, I heard your voice. When I was in the Kolto Tank. You were telling me to awaken,” Hongjoong realized.

Eden nodded, “That was me. I was attempting to reach out to find someone who could help. And it looks like you're the one I got." Eden adjusted the hood away from his silver eyes, "It could be that your mind just happened to be a willing one, but I highly doubt that. Are you trained for this sort of thing?"

Hongjoong ignored the man's remark, “You looked dead to me.”

Eden sighed, “I was close to death, probably closer than I'd like to be.” He paused for a second before responding, “You reek of Kolto by the way. You feel okay?”

“I'm fine.” Hongjoong snapped, irritation laced in his voice.

Eden chose to ignore the other's attitude, “Do you know what happened? Before you ended up here?”

Hongjoong ran his free hand through his hair, “Well, the last thing I remember I was on board the Republic ship, The Mist. What happened to it?”

“Your ship was attacked. You were the only survivor.” Eden trailed off, lost in thought for a second, “Most likely due to your Jedi training.” 

“...I am no Jedi.” Hongjoong hissed, "Not anymore."

Unfazed by the outburst, Eden responded, “Your stance, your walk, your aura, all of them are those of a Jedi. But I notice there is extra weight in it. Almost as if something holds you down.”

Hongjoong shot the older a glare, “That is no business of yours.”

Eden sighed “Alright. Keep your past then, there will be a time for that later. Let's focus on the now instead.”

Hongjoong sighed and rubbed his head with his fingers, “Fine, fine. How did we get here? What’s going on?” 

“I have no idea, I have been dead to the world around me like you were.” Eden replied, “There are probably answers somewhere around here. The ship we arrived in must still be around here somewhere.”

Hongjoong nodded his head, “I saw in some video logs in the other room that mentioned a ship, but no mention of if they moved it off the station.”

“Then we should locate it and get as far from here as possible,” Eden stated.

Hongjoong crossed his arms across his chest again, “What's the hurry for?”

Eden sighed, “We were attacked once, and I do not think they're going to give up so easily. Especially while we're here, with no weapons, no transport, and information. We're very easy prey to hunt in this state,” he advised.

“That’s a good point, I didn’t even think of that…” Hongjoong trailed off as he began to consider their options, “Alright then, I’ll go look for our ship. And some weapons.”

“You may also want to extend your search to some clothes, if only for some proper first impressions,” Eden added, gesturing to Hongjoong. 

Hongjoong glanced down at himself, noticing he was only in a pair of boxers that barely covered the essentials. The ex-Jedi’s face blossomed into a light shade of crimson, “Right. Clothing.” 

Eden chuckled and began to ease himself onto the floor, wincing as he made a rougher impact with the metal than intended. “Well, I'll leave you to the exploration of this place. I'll stay here to center myself.”

Hongjoong’s eyebrows rose, “Wait, you aren’t coming with me?”

Eden shook his head, “No. I’m far too old to be running around, I'll leave that to you.”

“You don't look that old though," Hongjoong remarked. Eden chuckled before folding his legs under him.

"I've experienced some things that have aged me well beyond my years, but I'll take that as a compliment," Eden replied, closing his eyes and sucking in a deep breath.

"Okay then, I’ll be back to check on you later,” Hongjoong replied, Eden only nodding his head in response.

As he walked out of the morgue, Hongjoong spun the plasma torch in his hands. “How was he able to figure out I was a Jedi?”

After what felt like an eternity navigating through the maze of halls, corpses, and being attacked by malfunctioning mining droids, Hongjoong finally found the Security Office. 

Besides a Stealth Field Generator, which would allow Hongjoong to sneak through undetected by the droids and shut them off, as well as some confiscated explosives, all that was of interest were some logs of the Security Officer. Yongguk, the Officer, spent most of the logs raging about not bringing explosives more powerful than a Frag Mine or Mining Blasters onto the facility and a meeting with Maintenance about the droids. The only thing really of interest was the instructions on how to sneak through the droids and activate the belt.

After activating the belt, Hongjoong snuck his way through the few droids patrolling the area and over to the console. He quickly typed in the deactivation code and pressing the enter button, and the droids all fell to the floor with a loud thunk. Hongjoong rejoiced as he switched off the generator, wincing at the headache he got from the device.

Noticing the cameras for the holding cells, Hongjoong opened them up to take a look and see if anyone were inside. To Hongjoong's surprise, one person stood in the cell.

A few minutes of typing into the command console and Hongjoong began to rejoice as the shield finally disabled, letting out a low whining noise. So far, Hongjoong was having some incredible luck. Letting out a cheerful laugh, Hongjoong jogged over to the door and took in a deep breath.

Before he could enter, Eden’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “There's someone behind this door. Be careful, his thoughts are… difficult to read. But he should be safe enough, and he may prove to be useful.”

“Thanks, Eden. Well, here goes nothing.” Hongjoong thought to himself as the door slid open, revealing the man Hongjoong saw on the security feed. His head shot up at the door opening before pausing at Hongjoong.

“Nice outfit. Did management finally change the uniforms or something?” The stranger taunted, the force cage he was in casting a yellow-white glow on his body. 

Hongjoong rolled his eyes as he took a few steps closer to the cage, making eye contact with its occupant, "Bold of you to tease me when you're trapped in there with nothing, while I'm out here with vibroblades." Hongjoong retorted, the stranger's dark brown eyes going to the sword in Hongjoong's hands before looking up.

"Fair point, what do you want?" The stranger asked, sweeping long black bangs from his face with a huff. The stranger reminded Hongjoong quite a bit of a Panther, like the ones he'd seen the Mandalorians tame during the Wars.

“Care to explain why you’re locked up?” Hongjoong asked, watching the stranger with a sharp eye. The observation didn't go unnoticed by the other.

“Well, Security claimed I violated some trumped-up regulation or another. You're free to take it up with them if you want, but they stopped listening to me shortly before they stopped feeding me. Now that should be a violation.” The stranger stated as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Who exactly are you? You don't seem like the type to work on a mining facility.” Hongjoong remarked.

“Seonghwa, Park Seonghwa. Excuse me if I don’t shake hands, the field here only causes mild electrical burns.” Seonghwa responded as he ran his fingers back through his inky black hair, "And don't be too quick to assume my life story, I've been through a lot more than you'd think just by looking at me."

“This facility is deserted, what happened?” Hongjoong asked. Seonghwa just shrugged in response.

"Heck if I know, some Jedi showed up and the place went to chaos. You know how it is, a Jedi shows up and suddenly everyone wants in. The Republic, the Exchange, and everything just becomes ridiculous," Seonghwa explains, picking a piece of lint off of his worn leather jacket, "It gets better though, some of the ferrocrete headed Miners around got the bright idea of trying to take the unconscious Jedi to the Exchange for the bounty."

Hongjoong groaned in frustration, "You're telling me," Seonghwa remarked before continuing, "Anyways, the law around here shot down that idea rather quickly and instead contacted The Republic. The two groups started fighting about it."

Seonghwa paused for a second to lick his lips, "Then there was some explosion, I was sitting here for what felt like an eternity, and then you showed up in your underwear and things got a lot more interesting."

Hongjoong rolled his eyes at the remark, choosing instead to focus on something else, "Well that was sort of pointless, anything else you may know?"

Seonghwa thought for a moment, "No, not really."

Hongjoong groaned, "You have gotta be kidding, how do you not know anything else?"

"Well, I've only been on board for about a week at most before they threw me in here. I haven't been able to learn all that much."

Hongjoong groaned again, pinching the bridge of his nose as his frustrations increased.

"Look, not like your half-naked interrogation isn't a fantasy of mine or anything but," Seonghwa's sentence was cut off by a glare from the smaller man. "Hold on, you're the Jedi everyone's been talking about!"

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "Ex-Jedi, but yes." Seonghwa's eyes widened.

"Where's everyone else?" Seonghwa asked, looking at the room behind Hongjoong. 

Hongjoong shrugged. "I have no idea, don't you know what happened to them?" Hongjoong asked. Seonghwa scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"From the beautiful view of this cage? No. Just like I said before, all I heard were some explosions, emergency alarms, some toxic gas coming from the vents, and that's about it. There's a high chance that everyone on this facility is dead, which if that's the case..."

The room fell into silence before Seonghwa broke it, "Look, if you let me out of here I can help you. I can. I've gotten out of trouble countless times."

Hongjoong crossed his arms over his chest, "Tell me your plan first, then we'll discuss getting you out."

"Okay, we stand a chance here. This place isn't a military installation, meaning we should have an easier time getting into the system. If you shut down this cell's systems, I can reroute the emergency systems so we can get to the main hangar. We grab a ship and then fly as far away from this hellhole as possible." Seonghwa explained.

Hongjoong ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath, "Fine, I'll let you out. But if you try anything you're getting a vibroblade to the throat."

Seonghwa nodded, a smile on his face, "Don't worry, I wanna get off of this rock as much as you do. I won't try anything."

Hongjoong walked over to the terminal and shut off the power to the cage, the force field disappearing with a small hum. Seonghwa stepped out of the cage and stretched his arms out above his head.

"Ahh, that feels so good after being cooped up for so long..." Seonghwa groaned as his joints popped, "Okay, let's get down to business. The command console should be our first stop.”

The two dashed into the main room and stopped at the main console, Seonghwa began rubbing his hands together excitedly at the sight of the terminal.

"All right, here we are. This console is on automatic hail, you may have heard it when you came in. The asteroid drift charts are constantly being updated, so it sends out signals to incoming ships with the charts so they aren't crushed into space dust by stray asteroids. The hail warns them to keep away until the charts and docking instructions are transmitted." Seonghwa explained before tapping away at the terminal, "The thing is though, you can bounce back the transmission and suddenly you have access to the communications system from the inside."

"It's that easy?" Hongjoong asked. Seonghwa shook his head.

"Not quite, there's a little more to it. But that's the simplified explanation." Seonghwa answered as he typed away, Hongjoong hummed before continuing to watch Seonghwa work.

"And there we go, the console should be ours. Now, all that's left is to re-activate the turbolifts, cancel the emergency lockdown, and-..." Seonghwa paused as a warning popped up on the screen, "You have gotta be kidding me..."

Hongjoong's shoulders sagged, "Why do I have the feeling you're about to tell me something I don't want to hear?"

Seonghwa sighed, "The system's been severed from the main hub, after being locked down from remote. You can't reroute the system, it's cut clean."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Hongjoong groaned.

"I wish, but unfortunately no. There's no way we'll be able to go through with Plan A."

Hongjoong paused for a moment, lost in thought, "That's not a standard procedure for a lockdown though. Severing it from the main hub would be a dangerous thing to do, it would essentially leave anyone on this level without a way to communicate with everyone else in the facility." 

"You're absolutely right. Someone tried to lock-up this level tight, and leave us trapped here most likely." Seonghwa pointed out.

"...There has to be some way to end the lockdown from here." Hongjoong guessed. Seonghwa shook his head.

"I doubt it, all we have is communications back into space. Which, shouting into the void is probably a waste of time and energy." Seonghwa answered. Hongjoong let out another groan.

"Can we see about reaching someone on the Comm?" Hongjoong requested. Seonghwa nodded his head.

"There's nothing else we can try, so be my guest," Seonghwa answered, moving to the side to allow Hongjoong through.

Hongjoong's fingers quickly flew over the keyboard as he began scanning files, noticing some logs from the Head of Docking. Deciding they had nothing better to do, Hongjoong pressed play and stood back, watching the hologram crackle to life.

After a few minutes, Hongjoong shut off the recording. It only restated what the nurse's recordings had said except with a small change. The Head of Docking had mentioned a small astronomical tech droid that was put to work, and from his descriptions, it matched the small droid that helped Hongjoong.

Shaking his head, Hongjoong quickly pulled up the Comm systems.

**COMM SYSTEM ACTIVE**

**SELECT COMM UNIT**

  * **DORMITORIES**
  * **HANGAR BAY 25**



Hongjoong tapped the button to contact the dormitories, only a burst of static and white noise filled the speaker system.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Hongjoong called into the microphone, with no response. After about a minute of static on the other end, Hongjoong disconnected the call and focused his attention on the button for the hangars. He pressed the button and waited for it to connect.

"Hello, anyone there?" Hongjoong asked, a series of low pitched whistles and beeps coming through in response.

"Can you hear me?" Hongjoong asked, the beeps responding.

"Dwoooo... deet? Beep." Hongjoong could tell it was a droid for sure.

Hongjoong's hopes rose, "MD-DX, is that you?"

A series of excited beeps and whistles came from the droid in response, Hogjoong's face breaking into a grin.

"Are you operational?" Hongjoong asked. MD let out a whistle.

"Perfect, we need some help. We're trapped on the Administration level and the entire area's been severed from the main hub. We need a way off of this level." Hongjoong explained, MD beeped in response.

"What? There has to be a different way out then if the turbolifts aren't operational." Hongjoong ran a hand through his hair.

MD beeped and whistled in response as Hongjoong listened, "If that's the only way off, then let's do it."

MD beeped and signed off, leaving the room in silence. Seonghwa watching from a distance as Hongjoong logged off the computer and walking over.

"Okay, so good news and bad news. The good news is I found a droid on the hangar level who can help. Bad news, there's no way to get the turbolifts working without rescrambling the wiring. So he's gonna get me access to the mining tunnels, I'll go through, get it working, then come back and grab you and Eden and we'll go." Hongjoong explained.

Seonghwa nodded his head, "Fine with me."

Hongjoong smiled at the other before letting out a shudder, a sudden blast of cold air chilling him. The ex-Jedi rubbed his arms and attempted to warm himself with the friction.

"Oh right, clothes," Hongjoong mumbled. Seonghwa gave the other a curious look.

"Okay, despite the fact I do really like looking at your almost naked body, I think we should get you some clothes. It'd probably be better to have something while you're running around the tunnels anyway." Seonghwa explained, "The room across from the cell block has mining uniforms in it, there's bound to be something in there that fits you. We can do that while the little scrap bucket works."

Hongjoong flushed crimson and crossed his arms over his chest, "Fine, let's do that."

Five minutes later, Hongjoong and Seonhwa were sifting through the lockers of miner's uniforms, all various sizings. After finding something even close to his size, Hongjoong began trying to tuck and adjust before giving up and letting Seonghwa help him. After a few minutes of adjustments, and far too much lingering of Seonghwa's hands in places they probably shouldn't be, Hongjoong was suited up. The dark blue and brown mining suit hugging close to his body being surprisingly comfortable.

Seonghwa let out a whistle at the sight, "Wow, you look way better in that than most of the miners on this rock ever have. In some ways, I prefer it to you half-naked."

Hongjoong rolled his eyes and clipped the vibroblade to his belt, opting to keep the stealth field generator instead of the original belt, along with a mining blaster he'd found in one of the lockers. Hongjoong had the feeling that he could never be too prepared in a situation like this.

"Alright. Let's head back to the terminal and wait for word from MD." Hongjoong announced, Seonghwa following his lead.


	3. STAR 1117 (Part Two)

"So uh, how long have you been a Jedi? Must have been tough, no family, no husband..." Seonghwa remarked.

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "Y'know, despite the rumors, Jedi AREN'T celibate. It's just a sect of Jedi that do. And I have a hard time believing your sympathy when you're staring at my tits like that." 

"Staring like what?"

Hongjoong glared, "Like... That! Like I'm a piece of meat or somethi-."

Hongjoong was interrupted by a beeping noise from the console, indicating the doors to the tunnels had been unsealed.

"Huh, looks like the little cargo cylinder pulled through. I'm impressed," Seonghwa remarked.

Hongjoong glanced at the intercom, eerily silent throughout the entire conversation. "Yeah, but why didn't he contact us through the comm? It seems odd he wouldn't."

Seonghwa shrugged his shoulders, "No idea. But if he got the turbolifts working then we'll have a clear shot to the hangar and we can get out of here."

Hongjoong huffed, "We already went over this. There's no way to get the turbolift to override, I had him open the mining hatch and I'm gonna go through to the other side and override the lock down."

"You're what?! Are you insane?" Seonghwa exclaimed, "That blast I heard came from below. There's probably nothing down there but super heated rock and collapsed blast tunnels. You'd have to be stupid to go down there."

"Yeah, well it's the only way out of here," Hongjoong snapped, "And I figured you'd rather I risk my life than yours down there."

Seonghwa groaned, "You're either incredibly crazy, brave, or both..."

Hongjoong huffed as Seonghwa continued, "I'll try to monitor things from up here for you, but you'll have to be careful. The only thing that'll be moving down there will likely only be mining droids, so try not to go too into hero mode."

"Alright, your concern is noted. I'll see you soon," Hongjoong replied as Seonghwa dug something out of his pocket and passed it to the shorter.

"I'll keep the comlink open. I'm not sure how well the signal will hold up with you underground, but I'll try to guide you through there as best as I can," Seonghwa explained as Hongjoong flipped the device in his hands. The ex-Jedi clipped it to the glove of his uniform and nodded.

Seonghwa smiled, "Good luck Hongjoong. May the Force be with you, or whatever it is you Jedi say."

Hongjoong only rolled his eyes and gave a mock salute before making his way back through the halls of the facility to the tunnels. The door to the tunnels was wide open now, a strong smell of earth and mineral coming from the mouth of the tunnel. Hongjoong wrinkled his nose before making his way into the narrow tunnel.

Navigating his way through tight tunnels that reeked of soil and sulfur, Hongjoong was startled out of his thoughts by the small comlink on his arm letting out a burst of static.

"-lo, hello? Can yo-" Seonghwa's voice rang through the comlink, bursts of static breaking through and interrupting his voice, "-d me?" 

Hongjoong switched the mic on and responded, "Barely, there's a lot of static on your end."

"What? The-... -tic is bad." Seonghwa replied. Hongjoong rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, there's a lot of interference, probably from-... -explosions," Seonghwa explained, "But it looks like the route to the Depot is still intact- ... The explosion knocked out most of the sensors- ... looks like there are droids down there too. "

Despite the static, Hongjoong understood most of what was said, "Alright, I'll keep an eye out. Signal me if you find anything else."

Another crackle of static came from the comlink, "Alright," Seonghwa responded, "-e careful."

The line went dead, and Hongjoong resumed navigating the tunnels. The smell of the soil was as strong as ever while Hongjoong pushed his way through the mazes of earth. While navigating he'd found a datapad with a map of the tunnels on the floor, partly buried under dirt. Discovering that made it far easier to navigate through the seemingly endless tunnels of soil and rock.

It was in the middle of wandering through the tunnels that Hongjoong froze in his spot. A sudden odd feeling invaded his chest. It wasn't foreign to him in the slightest, but it had been far too long since he'd felt it. Almost as if he'd been trapped underwater and broke the surface to breathe fresh air into his lungs.

It was after a minute or so of adjusting himself to the feeling that Hongjoong realized it was The Force. The feeling of the universe's energy ebbing and flowing through him like a tide was faint, almost as if coming across a great chasm, but Hongjoong could tell it was still there.

Feeling reassured by the sensation, Hongjoong made his way through the last of the tunnels to the other side of the facility. The other section seemed just as dead and lifeless as the first, an eerie silence falling over the rooms ahead.

Hongjoong switched on the comlink. The small device let out a small burst of static before Hongjoong spoke, "I made it to the other side, no sign of anyone else yet."

"Well, if anyone is alive over there, they're probably in the dormitories. The emergency protocol requires all personnel to stay in the dorms until the lock down is cleared or emergency services can get them out." Seonghwa replied, "Try checking there first. If no one's there then it's highly likely no one survived."

Hongjoong let out a noise of confirmation before disconnecting the line and beginning his search deeper into the facility.

After exploring both the dormitories and depot with no sign of anyone, Hongjoong was starting to lose hope.

He had found the Head Nurse, well, what was left of her anyways. The Security Officer as well. According to holo recordings, all of the personnel had hidden off in the dorms when the vent tunnels had malfunctioned and began filtering toxic gas into the rooms. Luckily for Hongjoong, the gases had filtered themselves out by the time he'd gotten there.

After taking a quick moment of silence for all the people, Hongjoong began scouring through the dorms. He'd found a stash of medical supplies, as well as some flash mines he could break down into chemicals. When he'd seen all he could stomach, Hongjoong continued to the fuel depot.

In some ways, the fuel depot was even eerier than the dorms were. Various mining droids were scattered about, all in various states of disassembly. The husks of metal droids gave Hongjoong the creeps, and the Jedi wanted nothing more than to be out of there as soon as possible. 

Hongjoong poked his head into a small room, more deactivated and destroyed droids littered about. Though that wasn't what caught his attention.

A man in the same mining uniform as everyone was lying on the floor, his bleached blond hair and cat-like features immediately attracted Hongjoong's attention. The Jedi rushed over, bringing his fingers to the juncture of his neck to search for a pulse. To his disappointment, the body was cold to the touch. Probably long dead by this point.

" **Greeting: It is a pleasure to see you alive Master, provided that my receptors are not off focus.** "

Hongjoong shot up and spun around, hand going to the blaster strapped to his waist. A droid stood in the doorway, and it looked far different from the mining droids in the area.

" **How may I be of assistance?** " The droid asked, the robotic sound putting Hongjoong on edge.

Hongjoong's face morphed into one of confusion, "Master?"

" **Statement: Of course! I was assigned to you on The Mist, to watch over and make sure that you made it safely to Telos. When the Sith attacked, I followed you onto the ship to make sure you made it safely to your destination.** " The robot responded.

Dread settled in the pit of Hongjoong's stomach, "I don't remember being assigned a droid on board," the Jedi remarked.

The droid seemed unphased, " **Answer: You do not remember because you were not informed of this, it was a mission given to me by my previous Master. Captain Nayoung of The Mist gave me a secret assignment to watch over you and keep you safe from harm. I am JY-PK, a protocol droid programmed for human relations.** "

"Uh-huh," Hongjoong remarked, not convinced in the slightest, "Which way is the hangar?"

" **Reply: Master, the hangar is blocked off by plasma shields at the moment. The only way to de-activate them is with the access codes. Only the Maintenance Officer, Choi Jun Hong, and the Docking Agent, Yoo Youngjae are allowed access to them. Unfortunately, I have not seen the Docking Agent since the emergency lockdown. I assume he is in the dormitories as protocol states.** " The droid responded.

Hongjoong groaned, "All the people in the dorms died though, there was a toxin leak."

The droid seemed to ignore Hongjoong's remark, " **Response: And the Maintenance Officer is on the floor behind you.** "

Hongjoong turned around to the body on the floor, letting out another groan. "You've gotta be pulling my leg."

" **Remark: My programming does not allow me to 'pull your leg' Master.** "

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever. There's no other way to de-activate the shields?"

 _"_ **Answer: From my data banks, I can find no information on any other way to bypass the plasma shields. I suggest that you stay put until a rescue team is dispatched.** "

"That's not happening," Hongjoong mumbled, "Alright, thanks droid."

Hongjoong turned on his heel and spun around, leaving the droid in the room.

The turbolift doors opened with a mechanical whoosh as Hongjoong stepped out and back onto the Administration level. At the very least, Hongjoong was able to rewire and get the turbolift back to operational once again. The Jedi wasn't fond of the idea of going back through the cramped tunnels once again.

To Hongjoong's surprise, Eden was waiting for him in the hall outside of the lift, "I felt a disturbance. Our enemy is here, we must leave. Now," Eden spoke with an odd aura of calm despite the contradictory message.

"Enemies?" Hongjoong asked.

Eden nodded his head, "Yes, the ones who attacked us on the Crescent. I fear he won't be very happy to see us."

Hongjoong's blood turned cold, "Wait, who's this enemy?"

"That's a long story, and our time is short. I will explain later, but for now, we must leave." Eden explained, already moving down the hall. Hongjoong quickly followed.

"We need to make our way to the docking area on this level. If the airlock has already been opened then we must be on our guard." Eden stated, "If we can't reach The Crescent, then we need to find a way to escape on the ship that's docked here."

Hongjoong nodded his head, "Alright, we'll grab Seonghwa from the Terminal room and make our way onto The Mist."

Hongjoong unhooked a Vibroblade from his belt and handed it to Eden, "Here, you may wanna take this."

Eden silently took the vibroblade from Hongjoong. The two continued through the halls on to where Seonghwa was waiting, who was watching The Mist with a glare. At the sound of footsteps, the other turned around with a blaster already in his hands and pointed at Eden and Hongjoong. At the sight of the two, he lowered the weapon. An irritated look crossed his face as he glanced out again at the ship outside.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?! Who's this? Another Jedi? What, did you all just start suddenly reproducing through mitosis or something while I wasn't looking?!" Seonghwa fumed, gaze moving back and forth between the two and to the ship outside.

"This is Eden. It'll take too long to explain everything, but we've gotta get outta here now." Hongjoong quickly responded.

Seonghwa took one last look at the ship out the window, "Uh... All right then. I'm assuming the Republic ship that just docked isn't carrying friends of yours then?"

"I hope your talent for understatement is offset by your skill with a blaster, otherwise our time together will be incredibly short." Eden butted in, Seonghwa's face turned sour.

"Well your majesty, you're in luck. It's one of my strong suits, along with running and drinking." Seonghwa snapped.

Eden only rolled his eyes in response, Hongjoong let out a groan.

"We don't have time for this, that ship's the only way off of here. You both can bicker when our lives AREN'T in danger." Hongjoong remarked. Seonghwa nodded his head before grabbing a second blaster off of the command console. The trio began to dash towards the docking area, footsteps thundering through the once silent corridors.

"Good thing we have a clear run to the ship," Seonghwa remarked as the docking area came into view. Their relief was short-lived as a droid stepped out in front of them, Hongjoong immediately recognized it as the droid from the Maintenance room.

 _"_ **Threat: Master, perhaps I did not enunciate clearly the last time we spoke. I suggested that you should shut down, stay put, and wait for rescue.** " The droid sneered.

Hongjoong's hand went to the vibroblade tucked into his belt, "Oh you were plenty clear enough JY-PK, I just don't listen to snarky, overly pretentious, evil droids." The Jedi quipped, hand tightening on the handle of the sword, "How about you move along, or I turn you into scrap metal."

" **Threat: I would advise against that. I have drugged you once, I will not hesitate to do it again,** " The droid remarked.

Hongjoong's posture went rigid, "You were the one responsible for killing the miners in the Medbay?!"

The droid seemed unaffected by the small Jedi's outburst, " **Indignant Answer: Master, the miners intended to place you in jeopardy. I could not allow that to take place, so I was forced to negotiate a termination of hostilities. After reprogramming the mining droids to 'mine' any organics they perceived, they began to kill off the miners one by one.** "

Hongjoong's vision went crimson red with anger as the droid continued, " **Then a series of well-timed accidents drove the miners into their dormitories, where I was able to gas them all at once without wasting time hunting them through the tunnels. I then administered a large dose of Tetrodotoxin to the remaining miners in the med bay, enough to kill them but ensure you slept peacefully.** "

" **Of course, against my calculations, you awakened from your tank prematurely. I am ashamed of the inconvenience I have caused both of us.** " The droid finished, unaware of the anger from the Jedi.

Hongjoong grit his teeth, "So why go through all that trouble to capture me? It seems like such a large hassle for you to murder an entire facility for just one measly little Jedi."

" **Answer: It is beyond the scope of my programming to probe the motivation of my clients, Master. Suffice to say that I am being well compensated for my services. You have been a difficult target to find, leaving very little record of yourself. It's as if you didn't wish to be found, either by hunters such as myself, or more likely by The Jedi Order.** "

"Who exactly is this client of yours then?" Hongjoong inquired.

" **Chiding Answer: My programming renders me incapable of revealing the identity of my client. However, I am free to say that my client is quite wealthy, and is very interested in possessing the last of the Jedi.** " The droid bragged on.

Hongjoong glared at the droid, "What now, are you going to kill me?"

The droid let out a robotic chuckle, sending a chill down the Jedi's spine, " **Answer: No master, killing you was never the intention. However, if you resist my attempts to return you to your kolto tank I may end up inadvertently fracturing your skeleto-.** " The droid was cut off by a sudden blaster bolt through the head, what was left of the droid falling to the floor with an ungraceful thud.

Hongjoong whipped around to see Seonghwa tucking a blaster back into the belt at his hip, disgust written all over the pilot's face. He locked eyes with Hongjoong, "I'm sorry if I acted a bit rash, but anyone who threatens a beautiful creature like you will get a bullet through the skull. No questions asked."

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "Can we not flirt when we're in a life or death situation here?" The Jedi mumbled as Eden glanced at the droid, or, at least what was left of the droid.

"Well excuse me for saving you just now princess, would you rather be halfway to wherever with that hunk of metal?" Seonghwa snapped.

Hongjoong glared, "Why you slimy son of a-"

"We're in a serious situation here. Our enemies are hunting for us right this very second, the least you both can do is take this seriously," Eden butted in with a hiss, the two immediately fell silent.

Hongjoong tucked the vibroblade back in place on his belt, "Fine, we'll deal with this later. Right now, let's get out of here."

The three made their way to the docking area without any further issues, the halls as silent as they'd always been except for the echoes of footsteps ringing out. As soon as they made it onto the large ship, Hongjoong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Something's wrong," Eden remarked, Hongjoong immediately went rigid, "I can't sense anyone on board."

Seonghwa huffed, "Oh, you can't sense anyone? Sense any assassin droids creeping in on us like last time?"

Eden ignored the remark, "Everyone here has been slain, yet no real signs of battle. Minimal blaster fire, no carbon scoring, almost as if this place has been hit by a different sort of assassin."

Hongjoong thought for a moment as Seonghwa butted in, "Then what are we doing on this ship? We were better off in the facility!" He took a look at the two in front of him with a skeptical look, "You two are supposed to be Jedi? You're the worst Jedi I've met."

Hongjoong glared, "You know, it's not too late to go and stick you BACK in the cell." At that, the pilot's jaw clamped shut.

Eden sighed, "If the assassin droid was correct, then we can't reach the Hangar. Be silent, I need some time to think."

The room fell into silence for a moment, "There is a way we can bypass the force field to the hangar." Hongjoong blurted, "We just have to get to the engine room and go through the fuel line, that should get us past the shields." 

"Look, I don't wanna burst your bubble or anything, but even if you could reach the ship it wouldn't matter." Seonghwa interjected, "You need the orbital drift charts to get through the asteroid field. Unless you're going for a record time for the shortest flight off of 1117."

Hongjoong thought a moment, "Well then how did The Mist get the drift charts? Wouldn't it have been smashed by asteroids?"

"Well, of course, they have the drift charts in their navicomputer. They'd have to."

"Why don't we just take the codes from their computer and take them to The Crescent?" Hongjoong asked, the trio falling silent.

Seonghwa piped in, "We'd have to get to the bridge, but that's probably the only big issue I can see." 

"That is a solid plan, for the time being," Eden remarked.

Hongjoong nodded, "Then let's do it."

Making their way to the bridge and getting the codes was far easier than any of them expected. After loading the codes onto a small datapad, the three moved through the ship. The eerie silence and dead bodies around made Hongjoong's blood go cold, but he didn't stay put long enough for it to affect him too much. Seonghwa and Eden seemed content to keep it that way as well.

After seeing some old logs from the crew about The Crescent, as well as some about himself, the group moved deeper into the ship. At one point, they stopped to raid the medical bay for supplies as well as Hongjoong's old room on the ship before heading onwards. The set of light armor, a soft blue with metal plating that the Jedi happened to find, had been a nice change. Especially considering the mining uniform he wore had barely any protection and was now caked with dirt and sweat from navigating through the tunnels earlier.

After discovering the lift to the lower levels was still operational, the trio began their descent to the engine room.

"The engine room should be on this level," Hongjoong remarked as the dim lights flickered. The lower levels were quite dark, and Hongjoong realized that it was almost impossible to see more than a few meters in front of him.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Seonghwa muttered as they continued into the dark halls. 

Hongjoong stepped over to Seonghwa's side, "What's wrong?" The Jedi asked.

"Something feels wrong. Like it's about to get really bad, and fast." The other replied, gaze darting around the halls.

"We'll be careful, but we have to keep moving," Hongjoong responded.

Seonghwa hesitated, "...All right," the other finally responded, "But don't say I didn't warn ya. Trust me, when it comes to staying alive, I'm rarely wrong about this sort of stuff."

The three continued down the halls, the sounds of electrical machinery and loose sparks echoing and mixing with their footsteps. The three stopped at a door, and Hongjoong reached out to open it, before sensing something. Hongjoong spun around, hand finding the hilt of his vibroblade. The rest of his group doing the same with their weapons once they saw the end of the hall.

A man stood there, though that wasn't the thing that put Hongjoong on edge. His skin was gray and lifeless, deep cracks and scars littering his bare torso. The area around his left eye was scarred and a dull crimson, his eye completely white. It was a surprise to Hongjoong that this man was even alive, in fact, Hongjoong would have assumed the man was dead if he weren't walking down the halls.

"I come to warn you, Jedi. You know not what path you walk," The stranger called out, his deep voice sending a chill down the Jedi's spine.

Eden took one look at the figure down the hall and then to Hongjoong, "I'll take care of him."

Hongjoong began to protest but was cut off by Eden shushing him, "He can't kill what he can't see, and power blinded him long ago. Go, I'll join you shortly." 

With that, Eden dashed into the room with the figure. The blast door clicked shut behind him with a loud thunk, leaving Hongjoong and Seonghwa in stunned silence.

"... So do we just leave him or...?" Seonghwa asked, Hongjoong turning to shoot a glare at the other.

"Well, you heard Eden. He said to keep going, so that's what we're gonna do." Hongjoong responded, turning to head in the direction of the engine room. Seonghwa right on his heels.

"Who the hell was that guy anyway?" Seonghwa whispered. Hongjoong shrugged his shoulders, more focused on getting out than on the conversation.

"He sure seemed to know you," Seonghwa mumbled, Hongjoong ignored the remark. 

Soon the two found themselves in the engine room, and Hongjoong was already at the terminal, tapping away at the screen.

**MIST ION ENGINE CONTROL**

**SYSTEM OPERATING AT MINIMAL EFFICIENCY**

Hongjoong activated the engine maintenance procedure, which opened the door behind them to the fuel line with a mechanical hiss.

**MIST ION ENGINE CONTROL**

**ION ENGINE MAINTENANCE PROCEDURE**

**ENGINE COOLANT ACTIVATED. HATCH STATUS: UNSEALED**

Hongjoong logged out and the two walked through the doors to the engine.

Seonghwa gulped, "Are you sure going through the fuel line is safe?"

"This is the only way into the hangars, we don't have much of a choice," Hongjoong responded, "You need to trust me on this one."

The pilot hesitated for a moment, "...Alright... But I know I'll probably regret this." 

"I sense you, my master. Faint... Weak..." The deep voice rang out through the empty halls of _The Mist_ , a loud contrast to the humming noises of the ship.

Eden stood at the other end of the hall, unphased by the other, "Your senses betray you, just like you betrayed me."

The other stepped forward, "After all this time, after all that has happened, still you live," The Sith remarked, "You are quite difficult to kill." 

"Perhaps for one as limited as you, Hyoseob. One who has fallen so far yet learned absolutely nothing. That is your failing, and no fault of anyone but yourself." Eden responded, a surprisingly calm aura radiating from him despite the circumstances.

"You know I have not gone by that name for a long time, yet you still insist upon using it." The other fumed.

Eden rolled his eyes, "Darth Crush is silly and utterly ridiculous, even by your standards."

Hyoseob ignored the remark, "And the failure here is yours. No longer do your whispers crawl through my skull, no longer do I suffer beneath teaching that weakens us," The Sith boomed, "And now you run in search of the Jedi. They are all dead, save one. One broken Jedi will not be able to stop the darkness that is to come."

Eden stepped closer, close enough to reach out and touch the other, "You underestimate him. He is more resilient than you would assume. And he isn't alone, never has been."

With that, Eden drew his vibroblade and dropped into stance. The Sith said nothing, drawing his lightsaber and activating it. The beam of plasma illuminated the hall in a sickly green light. Before Eden could even react, the Sith spun around and sliced. Pain exploded in Eden's wrist as he fell on his knees to the ground clutching his wrist. 

Wordlessly, the Sith deactivated the lightsaber and clipped it back onto his belt. The other walked down the hall, pausing at the doorway, "Next time you interfere, you'll be losing far more than just your hand."

The end of the fuel line was in sight, and Hongjoong began to internally rejoice at the thought of almost being free of this nightmare.

Out of nowhere, a sudden burning feeling shot up Hongjoong's arm. A scream ripped itself from the Jedi's throat as he fell to the floor, clutching his hand.

Seonghwa was kneeling at his side in an instant, grabbing the Jedi by the shoulders. "Are you alright?! What happened?"

Hongjoong couldn't speak, only letting out another cry of pain as tears began to stream down his face. Seonghwa quickly pushed himself off of the floor and scooped Hongjoong up into his arms before dashing through the fuel line.

"Dammit, hold on! It's only a little farther, don't give up on me now!" Seonghwa shouted, continuing through the large pipe. Hongjoong closed his eyes and rested his head against Seonghwa's shoulder, focusing on taking in deep gasps of air.

As soon as they made it to the main fuel line on the station, Seonghwa lowered them both to the floor of the pipe. His head leaned back and met the metal wall with a soft thud as he gulped in air.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, their breathing starting to even out. Seonghwa ran his hand up and down along Hongjoong's back as the Jedi calmed down, his breaths no longer ragged and sharp.

"What happened?" Seonghwa asked.

Hongjoong sat for a minute in silence, still clutching his left wrist to his chest. "I... My hand just... It felt like it was dipped in molten plasma..."

Seonghwa's gaze flickered over to Hongjoong's hand, "Can I take a look?"

Hongjoong hesitated a moment before letting go of his hand and passing it into Seonghwa's gentle ones. The pilot examined the hand with care as Hongjoong shifted in the other's lap.

"...That's odd, I'm not seeing anything." Seonghwa remarked as he rubbed at Hongjoong's hand, the last spikes of pain fading away.

Hongjoong froze, his eyes widening, "Wait. If it wasn't something that happened to me then... Eden. He's in trouble, I just know it." The Jedi locked eyes with Seonghwa, "We have to go back."

"We can't just go back, you heard what Eden said. He said he would meet us later. I trusted you earlier when you told me to crawl through the fuel pipe, so now you have to put that same trust in him." Seonghwa objected, "Eden may be old, but he's also a Jedi. A really strong one at that. He can handle it."

Hongjoong only nodded his head, eyes downcast. Seonghwa began running his fingers through the other's hair, letting him rest for a moment longer before shifting.

"We really should get going, we have a ship to get to," Seonghwa announced. Hongjoong pushed himself off of the other's lap and helped him up off the floor. Seonghwa dusted himself off before slinging an arm around the Jedi's shoulders and heading deeper through the pipe.

When they got to the depot where the pipe ended, they both were shocked to see a small Astromech droid sitting at the exit letting out a string of beeps and chirps.

The droid spotted the two and rolled over to them, letting out a series of cheery whistles. Hongjoong knelt and wrapped his arms around the droid, patting its head.

"MD-DX! You're okay! What happened little guy? You went MIA there for a while, I was worried about you."

MD-DX responded with more chirps and beeps as Seonghwa knelt next to Hongjoong, examining the droid. "It looks like he got hit with an ion charge, probably was dumped here."

"Yeah, according to MD it was that extremely helpful droid from earlier. You know, the one that attacked us." Hongjoong explained.

Seonghwa's face went sour, "Ugh, don't remind me of that pretentious rust bucket."

Hongjoong smiled as his attention went back to the droid, "Can you travel MD?" At the beeps that the droid let out, Hongjoong smiled, "Perfect! Then let's go, we've gotta hurry."

MD let out a happy chirp and spun in a circle as Hongjoong and Seonghwa rose. The Jedi forced the door to the fuel pipe open with a loud thunk as a metallic scuttling noise rang through the air.

Hongjoong reached for the vibroblade at his belt as a mining droid scuttled into view, aiming its blaster. The Jedi charged at the droid, slashing at its thin metal legs. The droid fell with a heavy clang and Hongjoong slashed at its head. The droid went still as Hongjoong stepped away, already hearing more droids approaching.

Quickly, Hongjoong dropped back into position as the droids rounded the corner and began firing. Blaster fire rang back from behind as Seonghwa fired with his blaster. MD joined too with a blaster installed into his unit. Hongjoong dashed between droids, knocking them to the floor with a few swipes of his blade.

The group made their way through the fuel depot, taking down the droids they encountered with little struggle. Once they reached the docking bay, Seonghwa tried to open the door with no luck.

"This door's magnetically sealed, I can't believe this!" Seonghwa exclaimed, "The ship is right out there and we can't even get to it. I can even see it from here.”

"Bwee-eeeet! Deet!" MD chirped out.

Hongjoong turned to the droid, "Whoah whoah MD, slow down and repeat that."

Seonghwa turned to look at the droid, confusion plastered on his face, "Huh? What's he saying?"

"He says he can open the hangar door by slicing the computer on the ramp over there," Hongjoong explained as the droid rolled to the computer and got to work.

Seonghwa watched the droid work for a moment before turning to Hongjoong, "How do you even understand that noise?"

"I served with a lot of droids in the..." Hongjoong paused for a moment, "Well, many years ago."

Before Seonghwa could respond, the door slid open with a clank as MD let out a happy whistle. The three rushed out into the hangar and towards the ship sitting in the center.

Hongjoong hadn't had much of a chance to admire the ship when he'd first boarded, but now in the harsh white lights of the hangar, he could see it clearly.

The boxy ship was a pale aqua color, a yellow that could rival the sun accenting it. It shone in the light of the hangar, despite the obvious years of wear and tear on it. It was beautiful.

Hongjoong snapped out of his admiring as Seonghwa grabbing his arm and pulled him on board, MD following close behind and letting out a series of beeps.

As soon as they were on board, the three dashed into the cockpit. Seonghwa pushed himself into the captain's chair and began to start the ship's engine. A low hum sounded from the ship as it slowly came to life. 

Hongjoong spotted a flash of brown coming towards them, recognizing it as Eden. The Jedi ran down to the boarding ramp and pulled Eden inside. Hongjoong noticed a flash of silver before blaster fire rang out through the hangar.

Hongjoong grabbed the blaster pistol strapped to his hip and began firing back as the boarding ramp lifted, bringing the two Jedi safely inside.

A moment later, the hum turned into a roar as the ship took off, maneuvering out of the hangar. Hongjoong glanced over at Eden, who was leaning on the wall of the ship. The older was gripping his wrist and wincing, breaths coming in ragged gasps of air.

Hongjoong tucked the blaster back into his belt as he helped the other, allowing the Jedi to lean on him. "Are you all right?" The younger asked.

Eden nodded his head, "Just-, just a lot of pain," he stuttered out.

Hongjoong slung his arm over Eden's shoulder as he guided the older to the cockpit, helping ease him into the co-pilot's chair. "I'll see if I can find any sort of sedative for you, just stay put," Hongjoong stated, voice oddly calm.

With that, the younger Jedi dashed off, leaving the two alone in the cockpit in silence. The Jedi returned a moment later, dropping a datapad onto Seonghwa's lap. "I forgot, asteroid drift chart codes." He explained before dashing off deeper into the ship. Seonghwa snatched the datapad and began entering the codes into the computer, the drift charts transferring with a small beep.

Seonghwa began to maneuver, avoiding blaster fire that began to chase them from The Mist. Hongjoong appeared a moment later, MD following hot on his heels. Hongjoong passed a small bottle of dark blue liquid to Eden with the instruction to drink it before going to stand behind Seonghwa, who was mumbling under his breath.

"If they hit us, we're dead. But if they keep missing us, we're dead." Seonghwa muttered, "These are already fantastic odds..."

MD let out a loud series of whistles, making Seonghwa grit his teeth. "Someone shut that trash compactor up!" Seonghwa commanded, his fingers back to flying across the control panel.

"Keep as much distance from them as you can," Hongjoong ordered, running over to the computer screen on the wall. Eden sat silent, turning the now empty bottle around in his hand.

Seonghwa grunted, "I'm doing all I can, and that's not enough." The pilot fumed, "What the hell did you do to piss them off anyway?"

Hongjoong opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Seonghwa once again, "Actually, I don't wanna know. But these guys are either going to hit us and we explode, or they hit an asteroid and make the whole field go nova." 

"Can't we jump to hyperspace?" Hongjoong suggested.

Seonghwa shook his head, "Not with all the asteroids, otherwise, we'd enter it in pieces. We have to clear the field first." Seonghwa explained, "Thing is though, once we clear the field they'll have a perfect shot on us." 

Hongjoong thought for a moment, "Alright, try to keep your distance. We'll get out of this."

"What about the asteroids? Can't we destroy them too?" Eden suggested.

Seonghwa interrupted before Hongjoong could speak, "That'll take out the whole field, the colony, and possibly even us. We may not be able to make the jump in time."

"Then either way, we risk death," Eden stated coolly. MD let out a low chirp.

All eyes went to Hongjoong, who ran a hand through his navy blue hair as he thought. "...We don't have a choice, really. Seonghwa, try to evade as long as you can. If they get too close, open fire on the asteroids."

Seonghwa took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders. "Hang on everyone, this is gonna get a little rocky!"

Hongjoong dashed over to Eden's seat, making sure the older Jedi was secured safely in place before sitting in one of the seats along the back wall and belting himself in.

Seonghwa took a sharp turn, barely squeezing between two asteroids. A loud boom came from behind them as they spotted a bright orange flash from somewhere behind them, quickly followed by more flashes.

"They fired on the asteroids!" Hongjoong called out, Seonghwa let out a string of curses as he flew past the last couple of asteroids and gunned it to hyperspace, the fiery reds and oranges of the explosions quickly were replaced with the bright blues and white of stars speeding by.

As soon as they were safely jetting away from the explosion, Seonghwa's head thumped onto the headrest behind him with a groan. "Well. Now that we've just killed a planet, maybe one of you can tell me what's going on?" The pilot spun his chair to face the two Jedi, "Because between assassin droids, a Sith Lord who looks like he sleeps with vibroblades, and being target practice for a Republic Warship, I was better off in my cell!"

"That Republic Warship was The Mist." Eden answered, unphased by the outburst, "It was seized on its way to Telos by the Sith. They sought you, Hongjoong."

At this, Hongjoong's blood ran cold. "Why were they looking for me?" Hongjoong asked as he unbolted himself from the chair, pushing himself off. 

"Because you are the last of the Jedi. Once you're dead, they'll have won." Eden revealed, undoing his safety belt and standing.

Hongjoong froze, "But... I was exiled."

"Exile or not, the Sith still believe you to be a Jedi Knight, and that is all that matters to them."

Hongjoong paused for a moment, lost in thought, "You said The Mist was on its way to Telos?"

Eden nodded his head, "Yes, to aid in the recovery effort there. Many roads lead to Telos, including ours."

"Not like we have much of a choice, the facility's astrogation charts being what they are..." Seonghwa muttered under his breath.

Eden turned to glare at the pilot, "It is where we must go, and where The Mist was bound before our unfortunate encounter on STAR 1117." The elder Jedi snapped before a flash of pain crossed his face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go rest and wait for the sedatives to kick in. If you have more questions, come find me in the crew quarters."

"Hey, don't stop your boring rants on my account, I was only gonna fall asleep here." Seonghwa piped in.

Eden rolled his eyes, "We can also be spared of the comments of certain idiots who like to butt in on conversations that don't concern them." With that, the elder Jedi walked out of the room.

The two watched the Jedi leave before Seonghwa spoke, "Look, not like I care or anything, but you may wanna go check on our passenger in a few minutes. Especially with that hand of his."

Hongjoong nodded his head, "You're right, I'll do a walk through of the ship to make sure everything is okay and then check on him. Can you handle things up here?"

"Of course I can, if I have any questions or concerns I'll voice them to the droid. But it should be easy until we enter the Telos system." Seonghwa explained.

Hongjoong nodded his head, "All right, good luck." The younger stated before turning around and going off in search of Eden. Seonghwa watched him retreat before turning to watch the stars pass by in small blurs, a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My plan was to update this on the 5th of February, but all throughout the first week of uploading I got a sudden jolt of inspiration and so many wonderful comments that kept me going! I ended up finishing this chapter in a week and I just couldn't keep it to myself that long...  
> Also, I apologize for what I had to do to Eden and Hongjoong. But it all has a purpose I swear, I'm not a sadist or anything.... 😅


	4. INCEPTION (Part One)

After a quick walkthrough of the ship with MD-DX and verifying that everything appeared to be in good shape, Hongjoong made his way to the first of the dormitories. Other than darkness and a few bunks with some musty smelling bedding, the Starboard Dormitories were utterly devoid of anything. Figuring that Eden was probably in the Port Dormitories, Hongjoong made his way to the other side of the ship.

The Port Dormitories were far more welcoming, small lights along the base of the walls lit up the room enough to see the floor. The same bunks that were in the Starboard Dormitories were in here too, but the stench was nonexistent.

On one of the beds was Eden, already in a deep sleep on top of the blanket. The stump where his hand once was had been bandaged and was now resting against his chest. To Hongjoong, he seemed so small and vulnerable like this, almost entirely unlike the Jedi he had met on the station. 

Quietly, Hongjoong left the dorms and made his way back to the cockpit.

Seonghwa hadn’t moved from the pilot’s chair, and the only change was that his feet were up on the dashboard of the console. He seemed absorbed in his thoughts, watching the stars go by in a blur of blue and white. As soon as Hongjoong set foot into the room, the Pilot turned his head towards the door. The moment he made eye contact with the Jedi, he turned to the window once more.

"How's our passenger? Is he still aging?" Seonghwa chuckled as his attention went back to the stars.

Hongjoong smiled, already crossing the room to the Co-Pilot's chair, "Nah. Just asleep, looks like the sedative finally kicked in."

Seonghwa hummed, "Just so you know. That whole ‘being cryptic and leaving everyone else out of the loop’ thing that you Jedi do isn't cool or mysterious. It's just irritating. If you actually can see into the future, use it for something useful."

"Saving the Galaxy isn’t useful? What other use is there?" Hongjoong asked.

Seonghwa shrugged, "Pazaak table."

Hongjoong rolled his eyes before glancing to the Pilot, "Are we still on course for Telos?"

The pilot grunted, "Not like we have much of a choice, it's the only place that 1117 had logged in their astrogation charts..."

Hongjoong hummed as Seonghwa continued, "If you thought that the facility was dead, then Telos is a dying planet they're trying to keep from flatlining."

"That bad?" Hongjoong asked.

Seonghwa scoffed, "Trust me, my description does it justice."

Hongjoong hummed, eyes on the stars. Seonghwa turned to the other, watching the way the blue lights right outside the ship reflected off his hair and eyes.

The two sat in comfortable silence; both lost in thought. The only sounds were the engine and the distant sound of MD-DX rolling through the ship.

"So. What happened?" Seonghwa finally asked, shattering the silence. Hongjoong turned his attention to the other, confusion evident on his face, "Oh, don't give me that. There were plenty of times back there that a lightsaber would have come in handy." Seonghwa remarked, "So, where's yours?"

Hongjoong paused for a moment. "...It was taken from me when I was cast out. Exiles aren’t allowed to keep their lightsabers."

"Really now? I thought Jedi were supposed to be practically married to their saber." Seonghwa remarked, not noticing the wince that crossed Hongjoong’s face, "What kind did you have?”

The Jedi's attention went back to the stars, "It was double-sided, with a silver crystal. Like the color of the mist." Hongjoong recalled, a vacant look in his eyes, “I got to construct it myself, my master taught me how to do it with that saber. It was my pride and joy.” Seonghwa nodded.

"Must have been something. Would sure be nice to have, might make those Sith think twice about coming after us." The pilot remarked. Hongjoong didn't respond; the same empty look occupying his features. Seonghwa kept silent, content with watching the other once more.

“I probably could reconstruct it if I had the right parts, it’s not too difficult once you have the pieces,” Hongjoong remarked, shattering the silence. The empty look in his eyes suddenly disappeared.

Seonghwa nodded his head before turning to the window, “Well, if you have enough parts, you should make me one. You never know when it would be useful.”

Hongjoong laughed, “Do you even know how to use a saber?”

“I’ve seen a saber in action a couple of times, I think I could figure it out if I got my hands on one,” Seonghwa replied, a smirk on his face. Hongjoong laughed in response before turning his attention towards the window as well.

The two sat in silence, watching the galaxy fly by. After a few moments, a beeping noise echoed through the cockpit. The two turned to the sound, noticing the small red light on the console flashing. Seonghwa swung his legs off the dash and looked to the control panel.

"Looks like we're almost there," The pilot remarked, "I'm gonna get us out of Hyperspace and start our landing. You may wanna go wake up Eden and belt yourselves in."

Hongjoong jogged off the loading ramp into the hangar, Eden and Seonghwa following close behind. A small rolling noise echoed throughout the room as MD-DX rolled off into the room.

Before the four could even really observe their surroundings, a voice echoed throughout the room.

"Attention, this is Citadel Station Bay Control, Dock Module 126. Please remain where you are, Lieutenant Im Jaebum will arrive shortly to meet with you."

Hongjoong's eyes went to a small enclosed platform, where someone in a uniform was talking into a control panel. The Jedi ran a hand through his hair as Seonghwa let out a noise of frustration.

"I don't like the sound of that. If they think we caused the explosion back at the facility, then we could be in some major trouble..." The pilot trailed off.

The group waited around for a bit until the doors to the hangar swung open, a small squad of four armored guards standing in the doorway.

The one in front seemed to radiate the aura of a leader. His black hair was swept out of his face. The light gray and white uniform glinted under the lights of the hangar, the lime green accents adding pops of color on the oddly spotless uniform. An array of piercings decorated his ears, studs of various metals adorning his ears.

As they approached, Seonghwa leaned close to the Jedi, "Uh oh, there’s the welcoming committee," The pilot mumbled, "Try not to blow it for us."

Hongjoong only rolled his eyes.

The one in front approached and stopped in front of Hongjoong. The Jedi tried to keep his face neutral as the two looked at each other.

"I'm Lieutenant Jaebum, in charge of the Telos Security Force." The other introduced, "I'm under orders to take you into custody for suspicion of the destruction for the mining facility, STAR 1117. All of your belongings, including your ships and droids. You'll get them back if you're cleared of any involvement."

MD let out a string of high pitched beeps as Jaebum glared, "Yes. That does include you. You are a droid, so you will be detained." The Lieutenant turned to face the Jedi, "Any questions?"

Hongjoong shook his head, "None whatsoever."

"Excellent," Jaebum remarked, "We have an apartment for you to stay in under house arrest until our investigation is complete. Do you understand?"

"I do, we'll cooperate," Hongjoong responded. 

Jaebum nodded his head, "Good. Please follow me, my men and I will relieve you of your weapons."

Hongjoong nodded his head as the rest of the officers approached, allowing the officers to remove his weapons and armor and was led to the side. He was offered a change of simple clothing that did nothing more than spare him the embarrassment of walking around without any coverings, which he accepted. His companions soon followed behind, stripped of their weapons. As soon as they were finished, Jaebum led the three of them out of the docking module and onto a shuttle. A few moments of travel and walking through the Citadel later and the three found themselves in front of a small apartment, the door sliding open to reveal a sparsely decorated room. Only two beds, a desk, and a comm terminal occupied the small room.

"These will serve as your quarters for the duration of your house arrest. We’ll have two officers stationed outside of your quarters at all times. I'll clear any visitors so that we don't encounter any incidents while you're here." The Lieutenant explained.

Seonghwa scoffed, "Why not just leave us a blaster, though, to be safe?" The pilot snarkily replied, ignoring the deadly glares that the two Jedi gave him.

The Lieutenant only shook his head before turning to Hongjoong, "The wall terminal there is in case we need to contact you, and we already have a ship on its way to examine the wreckage left over from the facility. Anything else you need before I go?"

"Nope, this should be fine. Thank you," Hongjoong replied before taking a step into the room, his companions already following close behind. The door behind them slid shut with a metallic whoosh.

"Well. Now, what are we supposed to do?" Hongjoong asked. Eden stayed silent, choosing to sit down on one of the beds. 

Seonghwa glanced out the window, fidgeting with his fingers, "Well, we can't stay here. We need to get off this station as soon as possible."

Hongjoong's eyebrow rose, "We only just got here, why do you already want to leave so badly?"

Seonghwa grit his teeth, "Well, just think about it! What do you think that the TSF is gonna find out there?" The pilot exclaimed, "What if they bring the Sith right to us?"

Hongjoong opened his mouth to reply, but Seonghwa cut him off, "Ya know what? Just forget it. As long as we're here, it doesn't matter either way."

Hongjoong rolled his eyes before turning to Eden, who was already half asleep on the bed, "What do you think, Eden?"

"We can’t stay in one place for too long, but I do believe that our path brought us here for a reason." The elder Jedi answered, "In the meantime, though, we should rest. There’s no guaranteeing what will happen tomorrow."

The younger Jedi nodded, "Alright then. You and Hwa can take the beds. I’ll sleep on the floor."

Eden hummed in acknowledgment, already slipping into unconsciousness. Seonghwa, on the other hand, stared as the Jedi sat on the floor.

"There is absolutely no way I’m gonna let you sleep on that floor." Seonghwa insisted.

Hongjoong grunted as he laid on his side, arm curled under his head, "It's not that bad." The Jedi insisted, "I've slept in far worse situations before."

"Yeah, well, I'm not letting you sleep on the metal floor when there's plenty of room up here. There's no way I'll be using all this space on my own." The pilot insisted.

Hongjoong shot a look at the other, "Really? That’s the line you’re using to get me in bed with you?" The Jedi remarked, “I thought you’d use something more seductive than that.”

Seonghwa rolled his eyes before pushing himself off the bed. The older man crossed the room to Hongjoong, swept the Jedi off the floor, and over his shoulder. The younger screeched and softly smacked Seonghwa's head and neck with his balled-up fists. The pilot only grunted as he set down the Jedi on the edge of the mattress.

"Go. To. Sleep." The pilot ordered before sitting on the edge of the bed, slipping off his worn jacket and shirt before shuffling under the covers.

Hongjoong giggled, "As long as you promise to behave."

Seonghwa let out a grunt as he turned to face the Jedi, "Oh, don't worry, Princess. I will." The pilot responded, a smirk on his face.

Hongjoong laughed again as he fell onto the blankets. The exhaustion from all of the earlier chaos suddenly caught up to him. As the Jedi drifted off to sleep, he felt warmth wrap around his torso.

  
  


The constant bustle of people coming and going from the Citadel Station was a common occurrence, even during the later hours of the night. It often felt like the Station never slept, especially with how many people seemed to be awake at any given time.

It was at this time, about 1:54 AM Citadel Time, that a young male found his way into the fray. This male, most likely no older than twenty, blended into the crowds of people despite his odd appearance and clothing. No one paid him any mind as he made his way through the dense masses of people, more focused on themselves rather than this boy.

A hood was draped over his head, the fabric just as stark white as the rest of his attire. A white cloth mask was hung over the lower half of his face. The male kept his gaze down as he walked, no one noticing as he slipped away from the fray and into a small room marked as "CITADEL SECURITY STAFF ONLY."

A computer terminal sat in front of him along with a large window, showing a garage with a ship inside. He breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of the hangar being absent of life.

Slipping off the white hood and mask draped over his head and threading gloved fingers through his shaggy platinum hair, the male made his way over to the console at the window and began going through files on the console.

**TELOS SPECIAL LIEUTENANTS [TSL] COMPUTER TERMINAL 1323**

**SHIP TRANSFER REQUEST LOG**

**THE VALKYRIE - VESSEL ID 09012019 - IMPOUND LOT 729**

**OWNER - KIM YOUNGJO**

**IMPOUND CHARGES - SMUGGLING ILLEGAL WEAPONS AND WEAPON PARTS ONTO TELOS CITADEL**

**ITEMS ONBOARD - PROTOCOL DROID (X1-0N), [ALL PERSONAL BELONGINGS HELD IN TSL STORAGE UNTIL RELEASE]**

**STATUS: TRANSFERRED**

**THE CRESCENT - VESSEL ID 24102018 - IMPOUND LOT 412**

**OWNER - KIM HONGJOONG**

**IMPOUND CHARGES - ARREST FOR DESTRUCTION OF STAR 1117 FACILITY (INVESTIGATION PENDING)**

**ITEMS ONBOARD - ASTRONOMICAL TECH DROID (MD-DX), [ALL PERSONAL BELONGINGS HELD IN TSL STORAGE UNTIL RELEASE]**

**STATUS: AWAITING TRANSFER TO LOT IN HANGAR 328**

**THE REMINISCENT - VESSEL ID 18032019 - IMPOUND LOT 38U**

**OWNER - PARK JIWON**

**IMPOUND CHARGES - FAILURE TO OBEY SPEED LIMITS WITHIN CITADEL SECTOR, FLYING ON SUSPENDED PERMIT**

**ITEMS ONBOARD - NONE [ALL PERSONAL BELONGINGS HELD IN TSL STORAGE UNTIL RELEASE]**

**STATUS: RELEASED**

Letting out a silent cheer, he tapped the file for The Crescent and began typing away furiously at the console, grabbing a small braid tucked behind his ear and bringing it to his mouth. After a few modifications to the files, he quickly began to verify all of the data onscreen to make sure everything was accurate.

  
  


**SHIP TRANSFER REQUEST LOG**

**DATA CHANGE REQUEST**

**THE CRESCENT - VESSEL ID 24102018 - IMPOUND LOT UNKNOWN**

**OWNER - KIM HONGJOONG**

**IMPOUND CHARGES - ARREST FOR DESTRUCTION OF STAR 1117 FACILITY (INVESTIGATION PENDING)**

**ITEMS ONBOARD - ASTRONOMICAL TECH DROID (MD-DX), [ALL PERSONAL BELONGINGS HELD IN TSL STORAGE UNTIL RELEASE]**

**STATUS: IN TRANSFER**

**FILE CHANGES SAVED**

**TELOS SPECIAL LIEUTENANTS [TSL] COMPUTER TERMINAL 1323**

**> ACCESS HANGAR DOORS**

** >OPEN HANGAR DOORS**

** >ACCESS SECURITY CAMERAS**

** >HANGAR 328 (DOCK CAMERAS)**

** >MAINTENANCE SHUTDOWN [30 MINS]**

** >ACTIVATE SHUTDOWN**

  
  


With as much speed as he could, the male closed out of the computer and made sure it was clear of any traces of him being there. After verifying that the console was back to the way it was before, he brought the white hood and mask back in place and snuck down the ramp. Taking a glance at the security camera on the opposite wall of the hangar, the male breathed a sigh of relief as the red light flicked off, signaling his timer had started.

Quietly, yet with some speed in his steps, he boarded the ramp and snuck his way onboard the sky blue ship, watching the way the lights of the hangars gleamed and reflected off of the yellow accents. The metal interior had seen far better days, but he wasn't complaining. It was still a gorgeous ship, in his opinion.

The male took a glance into the garage of the ship, which probably used to house speeders of some kind, seeing it sit empty without a sign of life. The boy took a quick peek into the other rooms inside, no sign of anyone on board.

"So far so good," The boy thought to himself as he poked his head into the main room of the ship, just as empty as the last ones. The boy was ready to continue onwards until a whirring noise filled the ship halls. A small droid rolled out of the hallway from what he assumed was the direction of the cockpit.

At the sight of the boy, the droid let out a set of high pitched beeps and chirps and began to approach. The boy started to frantically wave his hands and shush the droid as it approached, a little laser gun popping out from a spot on its torso.

"Wait, wait, wait!" The boy whispered, the droid pausing to let out another angry chirp.

"Bwee bwaa bwoo bwoo!" The little droid exclaimed, the boy frantically shook his head.

"Hey, hey, there's no need to shoot me," he replied in a hushed whisper, "And it isn't your business what I'm doing here. Go fix something, or power down, or whatever it is you droids do."

The male pushed past the droid, making his way towards the cockpit. The droid let out another angry beep before following at his heels, angrily beeping and chirping at the intruder.

The male paid him no mind, instead choosing to sit in the Pilot's chair. As soon as he reached to power the engines, a small shock shot out and hit him in the hand. Letting out a yelp, he clutched his arm and glared at the little droid next to him, who had somehow gotten a shock arm upgrade and had used it on the boy.

"What the hell?! What was that for?!" The male hissed. The droid beeped and chirped.

"Firstly, I'll say whatever I damn well want to. Secondly, it's none of your business as to why I'm touching the ship." He spat before reaching out for the controls. The droid once again shocked the male, who yelped once again as another jolt hit his hand.

The male spun towards the droid and glared, "What the hell is your problem?"

The droid glared back, (well, or, what he could easily guess was a glare,) "Beep beep bwa bwa BOO!" The droid emitted.

The male rolled his eyes, "Really? You won't let me touch your master's ship because I'm a stranger?" At the droid's confirmation, he grinned. "I'll tell you what, how about I tell you my name, and you tell me yours? That way, we aren't strangers anymore."

The droid hesitated for a moment before letting out a chirp.

"Here, I'll show you. Hello Droid, it's very nice to meet you. My name is San. Here, you try now. It's easy."

The droid angrily beeped once again at the boy as he rolled his eyes, "What do you mean that isn't how that works? Of course that’s how it works," San huffed, reaching for the controls once again.

The droid shocked the male once again as he beeped angrily. San turned to glare at the droid as it continued to beep and chirp.

"I don't have time for this," San mumbled as he stood up from the chair and scooped up the droid in his arms. The droid loudly beeped and wiggled in protest as San carried it back into a small closet off to the side of the main room. San set it on the ground and quickly slammed the door shut, locking it into place.

The droid beeped and chirped angrily as the boy walked away, mumbling something about his dislike of droids.

The boy made his way back into the cockpit and sunk back into the worn leather chair, reaching out and firing up the engine. Without the interruption of the droid, San was able to maneuver his way out of the hangar without issue and out of the Citadel. Soon he began his descent down to the planet below, watching flora and fauna pass by in blurs of greens and browns as he made his way farther up North.

The greens soon faded to white, snow coming down in fat flakes as he moved the ship into the hangar, disguised under a layer of snow and rock.

As soon as he touched down on the landing pad, San killed power to the engines and opened the boarding ramp before sliding out of the chair and making his way through the ship down the ramp.

At the bottom sat a man in the same white clothing, his white hair matching San's. At the sight of the younger male, a smirk made its way onto his face.

"I assume it was successful then?" The man asked. San nodded his head before turning towards the ship.

"Went off without a hitch, sir. Other than a little Astromech droid. I had to lock him in the closet off the side of the main room. Watch that one. It’s a brat." San explained, rubbing at where the droid shocked him, "But otherwise the TSF machinery was easy to hack into, and the ship was a breeze to fly."

The older hummed, "Very well, I'll send Jooheon and Minhyuk in to fetch the droid." His face broke into a grin, making his face resemble that of a Kushiban, "You did well, kid. Go tell Master Kyun that your mission was a success. I’ll make sure everything else is taken care of.”

San nodded as he made his way out of the hangar and into the maze of corridors, the older glanced at the boy leaving with a small smile on his face before turning to the ship in the hangar.

“Let’s see how bratty this droid is,” the older muttered under his breath before calling out across the hangar, “Jooheon! Minhyuk!”

"This is bad. We have no ship, we're trapped on this station, and we're still on house arrest," Seonghwa grumbled as he paced across the loaned apartment, restless footsteps echoing throughout the small room. 

Eden's eyes were closed, a frown briefly crossed his face before it morphed into something more neutral. His legs were tucked under him, and his head was downcast, the older attempting to center himself through the Force on the station.

Next to him sat Hongjoong, who was far less patient than the other Jedi. A scowl sat on his face as he grit his teeth in frustration, annoyance rising at the pilot's complaining. The trio had received news shortly after waking up that their ship, along with MD-DX, was missing and never made it to the impound lot it was meant to arrive at. Once they'd heard the news, Seonghwa had gone into a panicked frenzy.

"Oh my god, will you shut up for like, five seconds?! Please?" Hongjoong snapped, shooting Seonghwa a glare.

Seonghwa swung around, "Well, excuse me for worrying about the fact that we're probably gonna end up stranded here and die!" The pilot retorted.

Hongjoong slammed his fist into the metal floor, "We are not going to die! We’ll be fine. It’s just a small setback!"

“Small setback, my ass!”

The two bickered back and forth for a few moments as Eden rolled his eyes, his focus having long since been shattered.

"Will both of you stop arguing?” Eden finally interrupted, shifting his legs under him, “If you’re unable to say something that doesn’t result in an argument, keep it. To. Yourself."

The two turned to stare at the elder, then to each other, mumbling half-hearted apologies under their breath. Eden rolled his eyes again as he went back to his meditation. The room fell into silence once more as the three kept quiet, only for the peace to be shattered by a loud beeping noise coming from the terminal on the wall. Seonghwa dashed over to the wall, examining the panel as Hongjoong rose to join him.

The voice of one of the guards echoed through the speakers, "Kim Hongjoong, you have a caller. Moon Bin, representing the ASTRO Complex Initiative on Telos. Lieutenant Im has already approved the meeting if you'd like to speak with him."

Seonghwa glanced at Hongjoong, who paused for a moment, "What does he want?" The Jedi asked.

"He says he's here to speak to you on behalf of Park Jinwoo, and that it's a personal matter." The guard responded.

"...Go ahead and let him in," Hongjoong responded. The line went dead as the door to the room slid open.

The first thing to catch Hongjoong's attention was the head of bright pink hair, glittering and sparkling in the lights as he stepped into the room. A thin braid of the bubblegum pink strands rested against the side of his face, and the more the Jedi looked the more flora he noticed was intertwined in it. Small blossoms and leaves were tucked in the strands. The plum and violet robes he wore draped and flowed freely from his tall frame. They reminded Hongjoong of a more traditional version of a Jedi's robes, similar to what a Jedi Priest of old would wear.

The man bowed in Hongjoong's direction before clasping his arms behind his back, "Greetings Jedi Master, thank you for seeing me on such short notice," The man announced, "I am Moonbin, and I have come on behalf of Park Jinwoo, the leader of our humble compound."

"What does Jinwoo want with me?" Hongjoong asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

A small smile crossed Moonbin's face, "Are you familiar with the Restoration efforts here on Telos?" At the Jedi's hesitant shake of his head, he continued, "A few years ago, during the Jedi Civil War, the ecosystem on Telos was destroyed beyond repair. This Citadel Station was created as part of the Republic's restoration project."

Hongjoong nodded as Moonbin continued, "The Citadel uses energy fields to seal off portions of the planet's surface, and those shields allow us to go in and place flora and fauna, to help the ecosystem." Moonbin explained, "The shields also allow us to control weather patterns until the planet can control its own weather."

Hongjoong thought for a moment, "That's a genius idea. But why do you need our help?"

Moonbin's smile fell, "Well, we have run into some... issues... The Republic has been extremely generous with us so far, between the shields and the amount of flora and fauna they've brought in from planets, like Onderon, has helped our efforts very much." Moonbin informed, "But due to the recent strain on relations between Onderon and The Republic, prices for the items we need have skyrocketed. And as the station grew, the TSF was unable to police everything."

Moonbin paused to let Hongjoong process the information, "That was when an organization by the name of SOURCE came in, they offered security contracts to the Republic. They occupy about 2/3rds of the Citadel and are slowly taking more and more. They keep trying to take over the restoration project as well, urging the Republic to transfer our contract to them. They've sabotaged our efforts, and it will have terrible impacts upon Telos. If this continues, the Republic will cut funding, and Telos will be left dead forever."

The Jedi nodded his head, "So how can I help?"

"Jinwoo is a powerful priest, our spiritual leader of the ASTRO complex. He sensed something on your arrival, like a disturbance... or an echo in the Force." Moonbin admitted, "He felt that you may be able to help us in some way. He told me that if you can help us to heal Telos, then perhaps he may be able to help you."

"... Heal me?" Hongjoong wondered.

Moonbin paused for a moment, "I am unclear as to what Jinwoo means by this. He says that the echo you give sounds... damaged in a way, I guess. As if there's pain in it." The priest explained.

Before Hongjoong could process this, Moonbin spoke again, "I believe I have wasted enough of your time. If this offer does interest you, you're welcome to visit the ASTRO complex. We’re very close by, just in the next sector. If you get lost, there are guide terminals around Citadel Station that can help you. When you get there, just tell the receptionist who you are and he’ll take you to see our leader. Jinwoo will be very pleased to see you once you are free."

Hongjoong thought for a moment before nodding his head, "Very well, I'll speak with him when I'm freed."

Moonbin's face broke into a smile, "I am glad to hear it! I do hope we can speak together once again." The priest replied, bowing once more, "I must return to the complex, but I will inform Jinwoo of your answer. Farewell, Jedi Master."

And with that, the priest turned and left the room. The three caught sight of his purple robes rounding the corner as the doors slid shut.

The three stared at the door for a moment before turning to each other.

"What do you think?" Hongjoong asked, locking eyes with Eden, "Do you think they can be trusted?"

Eden thought for a moment, "I’m not sure. We’ll have to see what they offer. It could be solely for selfish purposes or out of the kindness of their hearts."

Hongjoong hummed as he flopped down onto one of the beds, eyes already falling closed. "I think I'm gonna sleep," The Jedi mumbled.

"Yeah, you do that," Seonghwa replied, finding a spot leaning up against the large window in their room and watching the ships arrive and depart into space. Eden went back to his meditation as the room plunged into silence, the only sounds being the small quiet hum of the station and Hongjoong's light snores.

At some point, Seonghwa's attention shifted from the space outside to the small Jedi resting peacefully in the bed. A small smile made its way onto his face as his thoughts went to how adorable the smaller man looked, curled up in the blanket.

The pilot was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Eden had paused his meditation.

"It’s impolite to stare, you know," Eden stated, face neutral. Seonghwa's head whipped towards the other, staring like he was a creature caught in the headlights.

"It wasn't intentional. Just… Lost in thought, is all, and he just happened to be in that direction," the pilot grunted, a light pink dusting his face as his attention went back to the Jedi back on the bed.

Eden rolled his eyes, "Hard to believe that when you’re still staring..."

Seonghwa stared a moment longer before his gaze went back to Eden, "Explain something to me."

The older Jedi made a noise of annoyance as the pilot continued, "If he served in the war, how is it that he... Isn't he supposed to be... Well... You know..."

Eden hummed, "You mean you expected him to be like all the legends about Jedi, to be more majestic, more regal and put together,, more capable." The older Jedi offered. Seonghwa nodded his head. "Well, just think. If you were to take the greatest Jedi Knight and strip them from their connection to the Force, what would you be left with? Jedi rely upon that connection far more than most people realize. Even Jedi themselves underestimate how much they rely on it. And Hongjoong has been forced to live without it after a lifetime of having it."

Seonghwa only stared as Eden continued, "If you were to watch a Jedi as they handle a weapon, without any ties to the Force, you'd see nothing more than an ordinary person like yourself. A Jedi is not defined by a fancy weapon or robes or anything like that. It’s what is left when you take all that away, when you look at just their characteristics and how those react and harmonize with the Force."

Seonghwa turned back towards the bed, "I didn't realize that Jedi relied on the Force THAT much..." The pilot mumbled.

"You’re more capable than a Jedi, in some ways," Eden remarked, "You could survive where he and I couldn’t, simply because you can’t feel the Force like we can. It’s ironic, in its own way."

Seonghwa hesitantly nodded his head as his eyes stayed on Hongjoong's sleeping figure, watching the rise and fall of his chest. "Doesn't that seem a bit extreme though?" The pilot asked.

Eden paused for a moment to ponder, "Companions and conflict with others strengthen people, but isolation weakens them." Eden finally stated, "...and Hongjoong has been withdrawn from people and attachments for a long time."

Seonghwa nodded, his gaze moving to the younger Jedi's face, "When you also consider that Hongjoong did everything he could to forget that war, the friends he had, the conflicts he encountered and learned from, the last piece clicks into place," Eden remarked, “He left a large part of who he was in that war, and he refuses to allow it to come back, which leaves him the way that he is right now.”

The pilot finally broke his gaze away from the younger Jedi and faced Eden. The two locked eyes for a moment before Eden looked to the bed.

"It’s not fair to him to talk behind his back like this," Eden finally said, glancing back towards the pilot. "I should get back to my meditation."

Seonghwa nodded his head as his gaze went back to the window, watching the ships dock and depart once again.

“Eden?”

It was one of the rare moments of peace in the apartment, Seonghwa had fallen asleep in the bed and was snoring away peacefully, meaning that Hongjoong and Eden finally had a quiet room to try and meditate in.

Eden raised his head from his meditation to see Hongjoong staring back.

“Yes?” Eden asked.

Hongjoong hesitated for a moment, “I uh. I had some questions for you, about the Force.”

“I’m afraid that my knowledge on the Force isn’t the most up to date, but I’ll answer what I can.” Eden responded.

Hongjoong shifted so that his legs were folded under him, “I felt it,” At Eden’s confused expression, Hongjoong quickly restated, “Your hand, I mean. I felt when you lost your hand.”

Eden nodded his head, “That doesn’t surprise me, the fact that I could speak to you through the Force back on the station already hinted to me that we have a Force Bond,” he explained, “But the fact you felt my pain through it means that the bond we share is a strong one. Probably more than normal.”

Hongjoong’s eyes widened, “A Force Bond?”

“It’s essentially a link through the Force,” Eden explained, “When two Force users develop a close bond for whatever reason, they’ll ‘link’ together through the Force as well.”

Hongjoong nodded, “But why did we link so quickly? We only had known each other for a few hours at the most...”

Eden shrugged, “I’m not sure, Force bonds often take more time to link people together, but I’d assume it has to do with the fact that I was your reconnection to the Force and that we were thrust into a life or death situation together.”

“Does the bond go both ways? Like, can you feel if I get hurt or something?” Hongjoong asked.

Eden thought for a moment, “I would assume so, but I’d prefer not to go testing this theory,” he chuckled before continuing, “I think that our minds are strong enough to shield us from small injuries in battle, so hopefully there isn’t a repeat incident. Barring any major injuries, that is…”

“Then we should be more careful from now on,” Hongjoong remarked, “At least until we can find a way to fix it.”

Eden shook his head, “Force Bonds aren’t just things that you can fix, ones that are as strong as this one usually last a lifetime.”

“So,” Hongjoong paused a moment to think before continuing, “You’re saying we’re stuck with this weakness for the rest of our lives?”

“It isn't just a weakness, Force Bonds have benefits as well, they’re actually more useful than harmful. Just try not to die and we’ll be fine.”

Hongjoong’s eyes widened, “There are benefits?”

“Plenty of them,” Eden confirmed, “For example, if you use a power through the Force, that power would also leak through to me and I would also have the benefit of that power. It’s good for strategizing, since you and I can balance out our use of powers to not completely deplete our energy.”

Hongjoong nodded, "I'll keep that in mind then," The younger responded, "So what do we do now?"

Eden sighed, "I'm not sure, the Sith seem to be faster than we first thought," He admitted, "And it appears they’re not stopping until you’re in their grasp. If you fall, all of the Galaxy is doomed."

Hongjoong's breath hitched in his throat, "We can't just keep running from them, they're bound to catch us eventually." The younger pointed out.

"You’re absolutely right. Though the destination doesn’t matter, it’s all in the journey."

Hongjoong's eyebrow rose, "I don't think I understand."

Eden chuckled, "You will, eventually." The older Jedi cryptically remarked before closing his eyes once more, “Why don’t you go and rest, you’ve meditated enough today. You need sleep.” 

Hongjoong stifled a yawn, “I’m okay, I can keep going.” With one look from his mentor though, he quickly changed his mind and moved to push off from the floor. He wordlessly slipped under the blanket next to Seonghwa and soon drifted off into sleep. 

There was a lot of waiting involved while under their arrest, and Hongjoong could tell his companions were getting restless.

Eden spent most of his time meditating off to the side or sleeping, which didn't bother him all that much. Seonghwa, on the other hand, did the exact opposite. The pilot either spent most of his time pacing, staring out the window, or voicing his complaints about their current situation. And if it continued on like this for any longer, Hongjoong worried that one of them may not make it out alive.

Luckily, it didn't seem like it would be that much longer. When Hongjoong felt as if he was about to snap and throttle the pilot, the door to their apartment slid open. Lieutenant Jaebum stepped in, the same white and green suit he always wore glinting in the dim light of the apartment.

"I've come to inform you that the Telosian Government has completed its inspection of what is left of the facility." The Lieutenant informed, "It appears that there was another ship present, though it was long gone by the time our ships arrived, and was responsible for the station's destruction. All the logs recovered from the wreckage indicated they all perished due to sabotage while you and your companions were either incapacitated or incarcerated. And as such, you are now allowed to be released from house arrest."

Seonghwa let out a cheer, though was quickly interrupted by Jaebum once again, "However, the Republic is sending their own ship. They insist that you stay on-station for the duration of their search."

Hongjoong ignored the pilot's groan, instead focusing on the Lieutenant. “So we aren’t allowed to leave the station at all?”

The Lieutenant nodded his head, “Yes, Admiral Jung will be arriving onboard the Daydream within the next week. You’re allowed to stay in this apartment as long as the investigation is ongoing, and you’re welcome to explore the station. We’ll remove the guards from your doorway as well. My office is only a few sectors away, if you have any questions. Your personal belongings are also available to pick up from the station.”

Hongjoong nodded, “Alright, thank you Lieutenant.”

The Lieutenant nodded and left, leaving the three to themselves once again.

“...So now what’ll we do?” Seonghwa asked, tearing his gaze away from the door to the two Jedi.

Hongjoong sat for a moment and thought, “Well, we don’t have much else to do besides meet up with the ASTRO complex. They did say they may be able to heal me,” He finally announced before turning to the other Jedi, “Eden, what do you think?”

“I think that probably will be the better course of action,” Eden said. Hongjoong and Seonghwa nodded.

“Then it’s settled,” Hongjoong replied, “We’ll visit the ASTRO Complex first.”

Once they got out of the apartment, it was fairly easy to find the ASTRO complex. In the sector right next door was the complex, a small industrial building decorated with all sorts of wild plants growing along the walls of the outside. It looked oddly natural, especially on an industrial Citadel Station floating in orbit around a dying planet.

The inside was just as beautiful, the small room that acted as reception, or at least what Hongjoong assumed was reception, was covered in bushes of flowers and other various flora. Some were ones that Hongjoong had recognized from planets in the past, others were ones he’d never seen before in his life. A soft pink light cast around the room, making all of the plants look even more stunning and otherworldly then they already were. 

In the corner of the room, surrounded by all of the flowers, was a person in similar robes to the ones that Moonbin had worn. The only difference was that they were less ornate and complex than Moonbin’s were, but the plum and violet coloring of the robes were still there, along with the bright colored flora woven into his long black hair. At the sound of the three entering, he looked up with a smile.

“Hello! Welcome to the ASTRO Complex!” He announced, “What can I help you with today?”

Hongjoong approached the desk, “My name is Kim Hongjoong, I was invited to speak with your leader. Is he available?”

The receptionist looked through a small computer screen, “I don’t see you listed for an appointment today, but let me check and see if he’s available!” The receptionist chirped before pressing a button on the table, “Head Priest? There’s someone named Kim Hongjoong here to see you, are you available?”

A burst of static came from the desk, before a voice responded, _“Kim Hongjoong? Go ahead and send him in!”_

“Will do!” The receptionist responded before releasing the button and selecting a different one on the console, “Minhyuk, this is Myungjun. I have someone I need escorted to the Head Priest’s room, can you come take care of it? Thanks.”

The reception released the button and clasped his hands behind his back, “Someone will be here to escort you to Head Priest Jinwoo any minute now!” He replied, “Anything else I can help with?” At Hongjoong’s declination, he went back to attending the flowers on the walls and humming some sort of tune as he worked.

A few moments later, a man came through the doors next to the reception desk. He wore the same robes that the receptionist was wearing with the same flora woven through his hair, though his hair was a light lavender color and fell in his eyes. He swept his bangs to the side before approaching Hongjoong and bowing.

"Follow me," was all he said before turning back and heading through the doorway. Wordlessly, the three followed him into the complex.

The room they stepped into wasn't all that different from the first room, only it was much bigger. A large room, covered in more flora of all kinds sat in front of them, the same pink lighting from the entry room was there too. A couple of other people in similar robes to the people they'd met so far milled about the plants. It felt very otherworldly to Hongjoong.

The person led them through rows of plants, some that Hongjoong recognized from planets he'd been to during the war, to the back of the room. They went through another doorway into a smaller room, this one much darker than all the others. It probably would have been completely pitch black if it weren't for the flowers growing along the walls, the blossoms were glowing bright blue and purple, illuminating the floor. Small crystals were also placed around the room, glowing and pulsing with light.

On the floor in the middle of the room sat Moonbin, the one that had spoken to Hongjoong in his apartment before. Another person sat next to him, in the same ornate robes that Moonbin wore. Some of the flowers and leaves of the glowing flowers were woven into his silver hair. A small crystal hung from a cord around his neck that glowed with a soft blue light.

The two looked up from their conversation as soon as they entered, and their guide bowed before leaving the room. Hongjoong watched his retreat before turning to the two in front of him.

"Ah, welcome Jedi!" The silver haired one announced, pushing himself off the floor and crossing the room to stand in front of Hongjoong, "I am so happy to finally get to meet with you. I am Jinwoo, and I am the spiritual leader of this complex." The silver haired human held out his hand.

Hongjoong took his hand and shook it, "I'm Hongjoong, and these are Seonghwa and Eden."

Jinwoo smiled, "I believe you have already met Moonbin?" He gestured to the other, who had come to stand beside his leader.

Hongjoong nodded, "I have."

"Come and take a seat," Jinwoo invited, "I'll explain everything."

They all moved to sit on a large blanket that was spread across the floor, the royal purple fabric felt much softer than it looked.

"So, Moonbin told me that you're having some troubles?" Hongjoong asked.

Jinwoo nodded, "Unfortunately, yes." He sighed, "I am so sorry to impose our troubles upon you like this, but I did not know where else to turn to until I sensed your arrival."

Hongjoong grimaced, "That bad?"

"Unfortunately. SOURCE has been sabotaging our attempts to restore the planet. Just last week, they stole a climate control system from our compound that was meant to help us with maintenance of our plants. Sanha and Eunwoo have been working hard to make sure all of our plants stay alive, but unfortunately a lot of them are very temperamental and require a lot of care. That system was supposed to help ease their burden, but it was taken from the docks by someone."

Hongjoong nodded as he continued, "We have caught people attempting to steal our plants, destroy our ships, we have even had people attempt to break into the complex and try to take one of our workers. If Minhyuk had not made it away, I don't know what they would have done to him..."

"That sounds awful," Hongjoong commented.

"It has been hell," Moonbin remarked, "And that does not even include what is happening to our workers on the planet's surface."

"It's getting to the point that the Republic is considering cutting our funding," Jinwoo said, "If that happens, the restoration will come to a halt and Telos will be completely irreparable."

Hongjoong thought for a moment before responding, "What can I do to help?"

Jinwoo reached under his robes and pulled out a datapad, "We had a protocol droid that the Republic had sent to assist us with data work. It never arrived at the compound. Someone hijacked the delivery and stole the droid on its way to the compound."

"We have no proof that it was SOURCE," Moonbin added, "But they seemed to be very skeptical of us losing it when we reported it at the last council meeting and moved to deny us another one."

Jinwoo nodded, "The Republic refused to pay for another one, so we had to fund a less expensive model. And we're worried the same thing will happen again. The company refuses to take it past the docks because of the attack last time, and I cannot bring myself to send any of my members to the docks to retrieve it. They are not trained in the ways of combat, sending them out there will be sending them to their possible death."

"So you want us to go retrieve the droid for you?" Hongjoong asked.

"We can compensate you," Moonbin offered, "We may not have a lot as far as credits go, but we have some old Jedi relics that are somewhat valuable."

Hongjoong shook his head, "That won't be necessary, I don't need payment."

Both of the priest's eyes widened, "Really?" Asked Jinwoo.

Hongjoong nodded, and Jinwoo let out a cheer.

"Oh thank you Jedi, you have no idea how much help you already have given us."

Moonbin passed Hongjoong a keycard, "The droid is at our personal garage in Docking Module 160223, just scan that at the door and it'll let you in. The droid should be waiting for you there."

Hongjoong took it and tucked it into his pocket, "Alright. We'll be back with the droid."

Seonghwa quickly interrupted, “Before we leave, take this comlink. If something happens, we’ll let you know.”

The two thanked him once again before he left, Seonghwa and Eden following close behind. Once they were out of the complex, they began making their way towards the docks.

After picking up their confiscated items from the Citadel's Security building, the trio made their way to the docks. It felt somewhat reassuring to have a blaster strapped to his hip once again, as well as armor that would actually protect himself from any attacks. Seonghwa had denied the offer Hongjoong had given of the armor, saying that he preferred his leather jacket. Eden had only wordlessly shook his head in response, which meant Hongjoong had slipped back on the light blue armor.

They soon found the ASTRO Complex's hangar, a simple plum and violet banner with a six pointed star on the front in gold thread. Hongjoong fished out the keycard and scanned it at the door, and a green light flashed on the lock before the door unlatched. Seonghwa grabbed the door and held it open as the three walked in.

"So why exactly did we agree to do this?" Seonghwa asked.

Hongjoong stopped and turned to him, "Because they need our help?"

Seonghwa rolled his eyes, "Yes, but how exactly does that benefit us?"

"Not everything we do has to benefit us," Hongjoong remarked, "You saw them and what was happening to them. They need help, we can provide that help. So that's what we'll do."

Seonghwa wordlessly shook his head as the trio went further inside. The hangar wasn't much different from the one they arrived at. Two gray shuttles were parked in the center of the hangar, the metal shining and reflecting the lights of the hangars. An Ithorian stood next to one of them with a protocol droid.

"Are you the ones who are here to pick up the droid?" The Ithorian asked, and Hongjoong noticed that his basic was heavily accented. Hongjoong nodded.

The Ithorian sighed in relief, "Thank goodness. I have many deliveries to make today, so I will leave it with you," He responded before making his way back to the shuttle.

The trio watched him leave before turning their attention to the droid, who was just staring ahead at them. Hongjoong approached it and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Greetings, I am AR-0HA. How may I assist you?" The droid asked.

Hongjoong glanced over the droid, "Are you fit to travel?"

"I am."

"Perfect, follow us then. We'll take you to your new owners," Hongjoong instructed before turning to his companions and motioning to the door.

The three left the hangar with the droid in tow, making their way across the station. It was a lot more uneventful than they expected, other than a few stares from others. Despite the seemingly easy task, Hongjoong refused to let his guard down until the ASTRO Complex was in sight.

As soon as they stepped through the doors, they greeted the receptionist and headed back to Jinwoo's room. The Priest was delighted to see the droid, especially all in one piece.

"Oh thank you so much, Jedi!" Jinwoo rejoiced, "We are all so grateful for what you have done for us."

Hongjoong smiled, "It was no problem, really."

"I know you said you do not need compensation, but please allow me to give you something," Jinwoo insisted, "I heard your ship is missing?"

Hongjoong nodded. Jinwoo continued, "We have a technician on the surface of the planet who is in charge of the shield network there. If anyone can find your ship, it's him. We have a shuttle you can use to get to the surface, and from there, he can track down your ship."

"I... Thank you so much!" Hongjoong exclaimed.

Jinwoo nodded, "It is the least I can do, especially after all you have done. I also promised to heal you, and heal you I shall. I just need your companions to leave the room and we can begin."

"Why do we need to leave?" Seonghwa asked, oddly tense.

Before anyone could really answer, Eden spoke, "Each person's connection to the Force is different and personal to them. It isn't our business as to what Hongjoong's connection is,"

Jinwoo nodded, "A fractured connection will also make it quite difficult to try and focus on getting it back. It would be wise to have as few distractions as possible, to allow him to put his full focus upon restoring that connection."

Moonbin led the other two out of the room, offering to show them some of the flora they were growing, as Hongjoong sat down in front of Jinwoo. The jedi took a deep breath as the priest reached for the kyber crystal around his neck.

"Can you feel the Force right now?" Jinwoo asked.

Hongjoong nodded, "Faintly, but it's there. It feels almost... Distant? In a way."

Jinwoo nodded, "That is normal for someone who reconnects with the Force for the first time again," The priest explained, taking the crystal off from around his neck, "Now, we just need to re-establish it."

"You may remember this from your Jedi training," The priest began, "But many see the Force as a magical power. In reality, it's like a relationship. You must establish a connection with it first, then keep in tune with it as time goes on. Keeping in tune with it allows it to grow."

Hongjoong nodded as Jinwoo continued, "However, when that connection is lost, it causes that relationship to become fractured. You must re-establish that connection with it, restore that bond, before you can go further. Just like in any relationship."

"How do I do that?" The Jedi asked.

"Well, the first thing to do is listen..."

With that, Jinwoo passed the crystal to Hongjoong. He took it and ran his fingers across the jagged edges, feeling the small pulses of the Force that flowed through it.

"I believe you are familiar with Kyber," Jinwoo stated as Hongjoong turned it in his fingers and nodded, "I want you to meditate, but instead of trying to reach out, I want you to just listen. Listen to what it says, listen to the way that it flows around you."

So that's what Hongjoong did, he sat and listened to the Force. He felt the way the Force flowed through the station, the way it flowed through the plants right outside of the room, the way it flowed through Moonbin and Eden, the way it flowed through... Seonghwa?

"Must be a mistake," Hongjoong thought, choosing to instead focus on something else. He continued to listen, to allow the Force to flow through him.

After a while, Hongjoong wasn't sure how long, Jinwoo interrupted his thoughts, "Alright, I think that's enough."

The Jedi opened his eyes and looked up. He passed the crystal back to Jinwoo.

"How do you feel?" The priest asked.

Hongjoong thought for a moment, "...I don't know. It feels like there's something different."

The priest chuckled, "That's normal," he replied before turning towards a table on the other side of the room, "I want you to try something. I want you to use the Force to grab that crystal on the table over there."

Hongjoong looked over to the table, to the priest, then back to the table. Hesitantly, he raised his arm up focused on the crystal. After a few moments, the crystal flew into his open palm. The Jedi closed his hand around it and held it out to Jinwoo, who applauded.

"Impressive!" The priest cheered, "I think that's all I can really help with. The rest of your reconnection has to be done by you, and that's something that will take time."

Hongjoong nodded. "However," The priest added, "I would like to help you with something..."

"That crystal you're holding is a Kyber crystal, and I have been saving it for someone specific. That crystal is calling to you," Jinwoo added, "What Jedi is without a lightsaber, after all?"

Hongjoong's head shot up, "What?"

"I'm giving you that crystal, to rebuild your saber."

Hongjoong turned it in his fingers, watching the way the light would stream through the clear crystal.

"I...I don't know what to say..." The Jedi began.

Jinwoo cut him off, "Then you don't need to say anything. Just take it, and promise that you will use it responsibly," The Priest passed him a small pouch from inside his robes, "There's also a few other lightsaber parts in there. Just bits and pieces that I've found over the years."

Hongjoong teared up, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jinwoo replied, "Now go out there and restore the Jedi. Bring order back to the Galaxy."

"I will."

With that, Hongjoong pushed himself off the floor and bowed to the priest, before leaving the room with a smile on his face.

The Jedi found his companions outside of the room, listening to one of the people from the complex talk about the flowers they were growing and what effect they would have on the restoration process. At the sight of him, the person stopped and waved.

“Hello Jedi!” He called out, “I was just talking about Matteuccia Struthiopteris and how well it will do on Telos’ surface.” The person said, running a hand through his dark blue hair, “Would you like to join us?”

“I’d love to,”Hongjoong began, “But unfortunately, we have a shuttle to catch.”

“Aww, maybe you can come back some day and I can tell you about it!”

Hongjoong chuckled, “We’ll see.”

With that, the trio left for the docks. The entire way to the docks, Hongjoong couldn’t help but feel excited. The feeling of the Force flowing through him once more gave him an energy that he never realized he missed. It was a feeling he hadn’t really felt since long before his exile, and it brought him a sense of comfort. Even as they got onboard the shuttle and took off for the planet’s surface below, the feeling never left... 


	5. INCEPTION (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Mention of an anxiety attack and PTSD near the end of the chapter! If you're bothered or triggered by either of those, please proceed with caution! It's marked with *** before and after the section, if you need a warning or want to scroll past it.

The acrid smell of smoke and metal filled the air as Hongjoong faded back into consciousness. The Jedi shot up, wincing as pain shot through his torso. Panic shot through his chest as his head whipped around, searching for his companions.

At the sight of them laying only a meter or so away, the Jedi breathed out a sigh of relief. His attention was drawn to their shuttle, or what was left of their shuttle, now engulfed in bright orange flames. Hongjoong huffed as he watched the ship burn, glaring at the fire.

"You all right, General?"

Hongjoong whipped around, coming face to face with a young man who had crouched down to his level. The guy looked far too young to be out here on the surface, especially with the still childish appearance. His reddish-brown bangs fell into his eyes, and he swept them away with a gloved hand.

At Hongjoong's hesitant nod, the kid grinned. "Oh thank goodness," the boy remarked, "You survived a nasty crash there General, thankfully I was here to pull you and your friends from the wreckage. Otherwise, you all would have probably ended up a little crispy."

The kid let out a chuckle as he ran a hand through his hair, and Hongjoong's attention was immediately attracted to his arm. Almost his entire left arm was missing, but in its place was a robotic arm. The entire arm was glowing bright blue from what looked like an energy core, acting as his forearm and elbow. Hongjoong couldn't help but stare.

The kid let out another chuckle, probably to hide his embarrassment at the staring, "But it's only fair I guess, I owe you more than one, General."

Hongjoong's eyes darted from the kid's arm to his face, "...Who are you?"

The kid tilted his head, "You must be in shock from the crash. Gotta expect some long term memory loss from that..." The boy mumbled before turning to a small floating orb, "Too bad he's not a droid, huh?"

The little orb, painted with maroon stripes, let out a small click as Hongjoong's eyebrows rose.

"Unfortunately, we can't all be that lucky..." the boy commented before focusing back on Hongjoong, "My stepdad was one of the Mechanic corps that was on Malachor. Maybe you remember him, he was a Zabrak named Bao Dur. He taught me a lot about machinery and such, he told me a lot about the war too. I’m Jongho, by the way."

Hongjoong shook his head. The kid, Jongho, ran his fingers through his hair once again. "I'm sorry, I don't remember much of Malachor to be honest," The Jedi responded.

"That's fair," Jongho remarked, "Dad preferred not to think of it much either. Everyone went through some tough times afterwards, and maybe everyone did a little forgetting. I guess that's one thing we have that's better than droids, they can't forget anything..."

Hongjoong nodded his head, glancing at the orb before focusing once again on Jongho, "How are the others?"

Jongho paused for a moment to glance at the two in question, "They'll be fine. The pilot's unharmed, more or less. And that old guy is a lot tougher than he seems..."

Hongjoong hummed as his focus went to his companions. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds being the crackling of the fire in front of them.

"You know, I never thought I'd get to meet you, General. The galaxy's a big place..." Jongho remarked. Hongjoong stayed silent, focusing on the shallow rising and falling of Seonghwa's chest, "So I gotta ask, just what exactly are you doing here? On the surface of Telos, no less."

Hongjoong tore his attention from Seonghwa's body to the kid, who had since sat down on the grass, "I'm looking for my ship, Jinwoo said you might be able to help me." The Jedi responded. His attention was already on the burning shuttle.

The kid chuckled, "Well, if your ship is anywhere near as bad as this one then you're not gonna have much luck..."

A groan came from behind them. Hongjoong whipped around to see Seonghwa pushing himself off of the ground, holding his palm against his head, "Well this is familiar. Feels like the last time I was on Telos..." The pilot mumbled.

"Did you crash a shuttle that time as well?" Jongho asked.

Seonghwa shook his head, "Nope. Pazaak game gone wrong."

"That was easily the worst landing I’ve had in recent memory," Eden commented, "Next time, we should find a better pilot."

Seonghwa glared, "Hey, if I were such a bad pilot then maybe we could've gotten lucky and hit a cliff or crashed somewhere outside the shield zone." The pilot muttered sarcastically.

Eden huffed, "Ah yes, because our current situation is a vast improvement..."

"Will both of you quit it? We have a ship to find." Hongjoong snapped. The two fell silent as Hongjoong turned to Jongho, "Do you think that you can help us?"

Jongho thought for a moment, "I probably can, I have access to the shield networks. We just have to get into the compound. The only issue I can think of is the SOURCE guards that have taken over a lot of the fields nearby. We may have to sneak our way in.”

“Well,” Hongjoong remarked, patting the handle of his blaster, “That shouldn’t be too big of a problem…”

“Uh, just how tough are these SOURCE guards?” Seonghwa asked, moving his hands to rest on the guns strapped to his hips. 

Jongho crossed his arms across his chest, "They're not that tough. They like to act it, but most times they do their sabotaging when no one is around. When I send off a warning shot, they're usually scurrying out of there as fast as possible. They tend to get a little aggressive when they're on the plains, but they can be easily dealt with."

Hongjoong nodded, "All right, let's go. We have a ship to find."

And with that, the four made their way across the plains. Jongho acted as their guide, leading them through fields of tall grass and foliage, along cliff sides of rocks higher than most buildings, and across shores of waves that crashed across rocks. It was a beautiful planet, probably one of the more beautiful planets Hongjoong had seen despite the decay right outside of the zones.

Hongjoong could tell that Jongho seemed to think so too, from the way he would break the silence every once in a while to point out a wild Cannok on the ridge or to some sort of rare flowers that were blooming. He always seemed to have a sense of pride for the planet, most likely because of all of the hard work he'd put towards the shields on the planet.

Eventually, the group reached an expanse of field. The tall grass had been trimmed down, and there was a small building standing.

"That's our center of operations," Jongho explained, "It's not much, but it gets the job done."

Jongho led them inside the facility, where a group of people were hunched over a Holoplayer. The four looked up at their approach. Jongho waved before gesturing to the group.

"This is our research team, or, half of our research team. The others are probably out in the other zones. This is Yoojung, Doyeon, Lua, and Elly."

Each of them waved as Jongho said their names, and Hongjoong quickly introduced themselves.

"They were sent by Jinwoo, they're looking for their ship. It got taken from the Citadel but it never left the atmosphere." Jongho quickly explained as he made his way through the room and to the computer terminal, "It's highly likely that they took it and stashed it in one of the Zones until everything blows over, then sell it on the sly."

One of the researchers came over to the computer terminal and began to type away at the screen, already opening tabs and tabs of data on screen.

"If anyone can find your ship, it's Lua. She's in charge of our satellite system and is one of the smartest people I know."

A chorus of "Hey!"s came from the other three researchers as Jongho rolled his eyes, "ONE of the smartest. I said it like that for a reason." He grumbled.

Lua paused for a moment to tie back her hair, eyes still scanning the files, "What's the vessel ID?"

Before Hongjoong could speak, Seonghwa butted in, "24102018."

Both Jedi turned to look at the Pilot, "What? We had a lot of time between STAR and Telos, I took the time to do something useful."

"Aha! Found it!" Lua exclaimed, the three glanced in her direction before heading over.

"See?" She pointed to a small chunk of code, where the number was highlighted in a block of text, "This is data we received from a ship that flew over Satellite #0808, which would be the last satellite before the polar regions. I may be able to trace it to its exact location..."

She pulled up a new program on the computer and began entering numbers on screen over a map of the planet. After a moment, she clapped her hands together in triumph.

She pulled up a new program on the computer and began entering numbers on screen over a map of the planet. After a moment, she clapped her hands together in triumph.

"Got it! Apparently there's a small anomaly in the shield network, looks like an error or a random flux more than anything actually suspicious. It looks like there's actually power going to it but there isn't anything there. It looks like it's just an empty mesa." Lua reported, "Maybe there's a hidden cave or something there that they're hiding the ship at?"

Hongjoong thought for a moment, "Is there any way to get up there?"

"We have some shuttles here at the station, you're welcome to take one of ours up there," one of the other researchers explained, "If you can't find it, you can take the shuttle back and we can work it out from there."

"I'll go with you," Jongho offered, "If your ship is there, I can fly the shuttle back."

Hongjoong turned to his other two companions, who nodded their heads, before turning back to Jongho, "All right," He answered, "Let's do it."

With that settled, Jongho led them to the small hangar inside their base. Three shuttles, all similar to the one they'd taken from Telos, were lined up in the hangar. Jongho led them to one of the ships and had them fasten in before starting the takeoff process.

"Why can't I pilot it this time?" Seonghwa grumbled.

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "We saw what you did with the last ship you were allowed to fly," he remarked.

Seonghwa shot him a glare, "Well excuse me, princess. Would you prefer I let us fly into the cliffs then? If I'm such a bad pilot."

Jongho rolled his eyes and turned to Eden, "Are they always like this?"

"You have no idea..." The older sighed.

The two in the back had gone onto snapping at each other, calling the other whatever crude name they could think of as Jongho focused on flying past shield zones. It didn't take long for them to approach the polar regions, an endless expanse of snow and mountains as far as the eye could see. Soon, the mesa came into view.

"That's the hole in the network? Doesn't look like much to me..." Seonghwa remarked.

"It really isn't," Jongho responded, "But it's supposed to not be much. It's trying to be as under the radar as possible."

As they approached the mesa, a sudden booming noise rang out before the ship began to shake.

"What the hell is going on?" Seonghwa demanded.

Jongho's fingers scrambled across the console, "It looks like we've been hit!"

"Who the hell even hit us?" Hongjoong snapped, "We're in the middle of nowhere!"

Jongho shook his head, "No idea, but they took out our left engine. I'm gonna try to land us as best as possible. Hold on!"

It felt a bit like deja vu as Hongjoong made his way out of the wreckage and onto the mesa, dragging Eden out with him. Next to him was Seonghwa, who had already dragged Jongho out of the ship. The two had fallen unconscious when they made impact, and both would probably need some sort of medical attention soon.

As soon as the four were out, Hongjoong breathed a sigh of relief. At least this time the shuttle was mostly intact, considering that Jongho had been able to land it in a way that didn't make the ship completely unsalvageable, it had even put out the fires in the engines from the impact.

**"Egotistic Praise: An excellent shot, even with the prevailing winds. I couldn't have done better myself."**

A sinking feeling made its way into Hongjoong's stomach as he and Seonghwa spun around. Three droids exactly like the one on STAR 1117 were standing on the plateau, armed with weapons and four floating mines. The Jedi bristled as his hand went to the blaster at his hip, his heart rate already racing.

**"Relieved Statement: Jedi! It is good to see you intact!"** One of the droids began, **"We were concerned that shooting down your shuttle would damage you irreparably. But now that we have you, we may begin to negotiate your surrender."**

Hongjoong scoffed, "My surrender? Why would I surrender to you?"

**"Response: We have been hired to bring you to our client, dead or alive. Your surrender will guarantee that your delivery to our client will be as painless as possible. Failure to comply will only cause bodily harm."**

"I have no interest in being carted off to your client," Hongjoong snarled. With that, the Jedi pulled the blaster from his hip and fired a shot directly into the head of the first droid, who fell with a loud thunk. The other two droids had pulled their own blasters out and began to fire at the Jedi, who quickly tucked his blaster back and ran to dodge the bullets. He unclipped the Vibroblade from his belt and threw it with the Force, slicing one droid directly through the torso of the droid, before it flew back into his palm.

Seonghwa had grabbed his own blaster from his belt and fired at the mines, which exploded in the air near the last droid and distracted it long enough for Seonghwa to shoot it and finish it off.

Hongjoong began to take a deep breath to steady himself, but was interrupted by shouting. The two were suddenly surrounded by a group of people, white hoods drawn over their heads. They were pointing electro staffs at the two, their faces showing a calm, yet stoic, expression.

"Lay down your weapons, and you will not be harmed," One of them called out.

Hongjoong looked over to Seonghwa before turning back to the person who had spoken. He wordlessly unclipped the vibroblade and blaster from his belt and threw them into the snow in front of him. Seonghwa quickly followed the Jedi's lead and threw his blaster in the snow.

"That's all of our weapons!" Hongjoong yelled back.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the strangers all lowered the spears. The one that had given the order approached Hongjoong, grabbed him by the arm and wordlessly began to drag him away as the rest of them surrounded his other companions. The other led him across the plateau and over to a lump in the snow, which Hongjoong realized was actually a hidden door. The other pulled him through before the door slammed shut behind them with a loud bang, sealing his fate.

Hongjoong's footsteps echoed through the halls as he was guided through the maze of halls and corridors. The white-haired man who practically dragged him away from his group hadn't spoken much, only to tell Hongjoong to turn a certain way.

The awkward silence was more than enough to send a shiver of unease down the Jedi's spine, the cold tunnels under the plateau not helping to ward it off. Hongjoong wished he could at least feel something from Eden through their bond, but so far there was nothing. For the first time since this journey had started, Hongjoong felt truly alone in whatever was to happen next. And the thought of that sent shivers down his spine.

The white-haired man stopped abruptly in front of a room, almost causing Hongjoong to bump into his backside. The other bowed to Hongjoong before his glance shifted back towards the room in front of them.

"Master Kyun is already waiting inside the archives room, just head in there and he should be out in a bit," he explained, "Just don't try anything, or we will have to intervene."

Hongjoong quickly nodded his head before turning and walking into the indicated room. The other relaxed once the Jedi stepped into the room, leaning against his staff and watching the retreating figure before the door slid shut.

Hongjoong wrapped his arms around himself and rubbed them, the chill in the air making him shiver. After a few moments of waiting, soft footsteps echoed through the room. Hongjoong's head darted up to see the face of someone he'd thought he wouldn't ever see again.

"Well, if it isn't Kim Hongjoong? I never expected to see you again after your sentencing," Changkyun remarked, Hongjoong glared.

Changkyun had been on the council the day of his Exile. The one who was most vocal about Hongjoong's punishment needing to be more severe and had even tried to convince the council Hongjoong needed to be put to death for his crimes. Even before Hongjoong had chosen to leave for the Mandalorian Wars, in fact as far as Hongjoong could remember, the two always had never gotten along. Even at the council meeting regarding Hongjoong's exiling, Changkyun had tried to invoke a reaction out of the other.

In Hongjoong’s mind, it probably wasn’t too out of the question to assume that Changkyun hated him.

Changkyun brushed silver bangs from his face, the white robes he wore swaying with the motion, "I thought you had taken the Exile's path, wandering the galaxy. And yet you return." The older locked eyes with the younger Jedi, "Why is that?"

Hongjoong crossed his arms over his chest, "It was never my intention to see you again, but I'm not here to deal with you," Hongjoong snapped, "I want to know what you did with my friends and my ship first."

The elder rolled his eyes, "Your concern is noted," Changkyun remarked, "Your... ‘friends’... haven't been harmed, they've just been detained for the time being. For their own safety."

Hongjoong's eyebrows rose as the older Jedi continued, "I find it a bit unusual that you're traveling with companions again, and so soon too. I thought you had given up any idea of friendship after the war." He explained, "Unless... You're here for a different reason?"

"Look, if you think that I WANTED to see you again, you'd be sorely mistaken." Hongjoong hissed.

The older Jedi rolled his eyes, "Yet you’re here," Changkyun remarked, expression morphing into one of disinterest, "Regardless of whether or not you actually want to be here, your arrival into MY space, into MY academy, deserves an explanation."

Hongjoong glared at the other as the older began to pace the floor, hands clasped behind his back, "Have you returned to face the judgement of the Council? I’m afraid that most of us are no longer here, but if you’re unhappy with your previous sentencing, I’m willing to make it more severe."

"In your dreams," Hongjoong muttered before responding, "The Force brought me here, I didn't just choose to drop by for a nice chat."

Changkyun laughed, "Oh please. If you're going to lie, then at least come up with something convincing. As if the Force would speak to you. Especially after everything you've done."

"Fine then, don't believe me." Hongjoong snapped, "I just want my friends and my ship back." The Jedi huffed as he continued to glare.

“Really? Yours?” The other Jedi scoffed, “For all I know, you murdered whoever actually owns that ship and took its crew hostage. I wouldn’t put it past you.”

Hongjoong opened his mouth before being interrupted, “You’re a liar, a deserter, a murderer. You abandoned the Jedi Order to follow two hot-headed apprentices who thought they knew better. They didn’t, none of you who left knew better.”

“But people were dying, is it really the Jedi way to let them die as we watched from the sidelines?” Hongjoong asked, “If those were Jedi being slaughtered and not Republic citizens, would you all have made a different decision?”

Changkyun rolled his eyes, “Maybe so, but violence wasn’t the answer. It never is. And that violence corrupted Namjoon, it corrupted Chanyeol, it corrupted you, and it corrupted every one of you that left.”

“Yes, but by me deciding to go, I saved hundreds of lives, along with everyone else that went. We saved entire planets from enslavement or eradication by the Mandalorians.” Hongjoong countered, “The point of a Jedi is to serve, to keep peace and balance in the Galaxy even at the cost of their own life. Isn’t losing a few Jedi to save the entire Galaxy part of being a Jedi?” 

Changkyun crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the floor, silent for a few moments, “...You’re more delusional than I thought. You really think that you did the right thing? You really think that you blatantly disobeying the council was for the greater good?” 

Hongjoong nodded his head, “If I got the opportunity to do it again, I would choose to fight. I’d rather give my life defending those who can’t defend themselves then sit on the Council and watch off to the side as innocent people die.”

“Shut up!” Changkyun snapped, “How dare you say that we did nothing!”

Hongjoong crossed his arms over his chest, “You didn’t see the things I saw, the horrors that the Mandalorians brought with them across the Galaxy. If you saw the things I did, you wouldn’t be so content to have sat around and done nothing.”

“You know what?” Changkyun asked, “I honestly do not care what you experienced! I’m tired of dealing with you! You’re just so stubborn! I wish the Council had just executed you when we had the chance.” The other Jedi exclaimed, “Just… Take your ship and leave. Leave Telos and never return here. Ever.”

Hongjoong only nodded his head as the white haired man from earlier returned, already grabbing the younger Jedi by the arm and removing him from the room. The last thing Hongjoong saw before the door slid shut was Changkyun rubbing his temples with his hands and muttering to himself.

“Don’t mind him,” The white-haired man remarked, “For all his good, there are a few things that Changkyun gets wrong.”

Hongjoong’s eyebrow rose, “Really? Like what?”

The other paused for a moment, “Well, you firstly. He always said you were hot headed and were lured to the dark side. But from the way you acted towards Changkyun, you seemed to be far from that. I don’t think I would’ve had the same patience that you had.”

Hongjoong stayed silent as the two navigated the seemingly endless halls, finally finding their way to the main room. 

“Your friends are through those doors and down the hallway there,” The white haired one said, pointing to a set of plasteel doors across the room, “And the hangar is through those doors there, along with your droid,” He turned to a set of metal doors nearby and pointed to them, “If you have any questions, you can ask Hoseok in the Hangar or Hyunwoo in the Servant's quarters, which are over there.” He pointed to a doorway tucked in the corner of the room.

The white haired male slipped a small braid from behind his ear and into his mouth and gnawed on it for a moment before nodding his head and heading in the direction of the doors to the hangars.

Hongjoong stared at the doors for a moment before turning to the plasteel doors across the room, mentally preparing himself for what was behind the door. He pushed open the door to the room and braced himself for the worst.

To his relief, all that awaited on the other side was Seonghwa in a force cage having a discussion of some kind with a person with white hair, Eden and Jongho were off to the side in two more force cages, but looked like they were still unconscious.

“-and that’s why I feel a personal connection to space whales.” The white haired person said before turning to the door, “Oh! Hello Jedi! Are you here for your friends?”

Hongjoong nodded his head. The white haired male pushed himself off of the floor and over to the control panel on the wall, quickly deactivating the force cages.

“There you go! Those two over there are just sleeping, they woke up a bit ago and were in some pain from the crash so Hyungwon gave them something to help. I think he said it was a sedative and some kind of anti-inflammatory drug. You should be able to wake them up with no problem, they'll just be drowsy for a few hours.” He said, before turning to Seonghwa, “Sorry about locking you all up, no hard feelings?”

Seonghwa shook his head, "None whatsoever."

The white haired male grinned, before turning to Hongjoong and sticking his arm out, "I'm Minhyuk by the way! I've heard a lot about you, Master Kyun talks about you a lot!"

Hongjoong took his hand and shook it, "Oh really? Like what?"

"Mostly as a 'How Not To Be A Jedi' example," Minhyuk explained, "But sometimes he talks about how amazing you are at Lightsaber combat."

"Figures," Hongjoong muttered before turning to the two on the floor, who were still unconscious.

"Welp! I think you have everything under control from here, so I'll go take my break now!" Minhyuk announced before heading towards the door, "By the way, Kihyun has your gear, he's hard to miss, he's the only one around here with pink hair. If you need help with anything else, I'll be in the Servant’s quarters!"

With that, Minhyuk disappeared from sight, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the halls. Hongjoong and Seonghwa watched him leave before turning their attention to each other.

"He seems friendly," Hongjoong remarked.

Seonghwa loudly sighed and rubbed his neck, "You have no idea," he mumbled.

Hongjoong laughed, already crossing the room to where Eden and Jongho were still asleep. He knelt next to Jongho first and shook him awake. The younger opened his eyes, before squinting at the bright lights of the room and looking up at the two.

"General?" The younger asked, "Where are we? What happened?"

"Long story, I'll explain later," Hongjoong answered, "Are you feeling alright? Can you walk?"

Jongho nodded, "Just sore, I can probably just push through it."

"Alright, we just need to get to the ship and then you both can rest." Hongjoong said. Jongho pushed himself from the ground and winced as Hongjoong moved on to waking up Eden. It took a little longer and more shaking to wake him up, but soon the four were up and already headed to the Servant's quarters.

The Servant's quarters weren't much to look at, just a large room with a practice mat and sparring equipment in the center. Along the walls were doorways to what looked like bedrooms, with a few of Changkyun's guards spread about. Most either ignored them or turned to stare.

Hongjoong quickly spotted Kihyun, the one that Minhyuk mentioned, chatting with another male with white hair that Hongjoong didn't recognize. The two looked up as the Jedi approached, "Can I help you?" Kihyun asked, running a hand through his soft pink hair.

"I was told you have my crew's gear?" Hongjoong asked. Kihyun nodded and pointed to a door off to the side.

"Yep, all your stuff is in there. Go ahead and take it and get out." He responded, before turning back to his conversation to the other.

Hongjoong made his way over to the closet and quickly found their gear before heading back to the main room once more. Their last stop was to the hangars, where they planned to leave for good.

The group pushed open the metal doors only to be greeted with MD-DX screeching at another white haired male, "There's no need to get upset with me about it! It isn't my fault!"

MD screeched and chirped again as the human rolled his eyes, "Like I said, it's not my fault. I'm just following orders."

He rubbed the sides of his head before turning to the group at the doorway, "Oh thank goodness," he mumbled, "You here for the droid?"

Hongjoong nodded as he let out a sigh of relief, "Please, this droid is driving me crazy."

MD chirped, the male rolled his eyes once again, "I refuse to respond to that." He remarked before turning to the Jedi once again, "Please, just take this little rust bucket away. He's giving me a massive headache AND he shocked my droids and scared them off somewhere... Little brat..."

With that, the white haired male left, calling out "Yoshi! Gucci!" as he left. Hongjoong stared for a moment before turning his attention to the droid, who rolled over to the Jedi and chirped happily.

"I'm happy to see you too, buddy," Hongjoong laughed, "Let's get out of here."

MD chirped once again before rolling along towards the Crescent, where another white haired male was sitting near the loading dock. He stood up from his spot as the group approached, running a hand through his bangs, the blue edges of his hair catching in the bright lights of the hangar.

"I assume you're the Jedi?" He asked, offering his hand to shake, Hongjoong took it and nodded. "Perfect!" He exclaimed, "We did some maintenance while it was here, got the whole exterior scrubbed and all the dents buffed out, plus we fixed an issue that Jooheon found with the Hyperdrive. It should be a lot nicer to fly now."

Hongjoong quickly thanked him before glancing at the ship, already spotting the difference in the exterior of the ship. He was itching to get inside and as far from here as possible. His earlier run-in with Changkyun had left him feeling on edge and hesitant. Despite some of the friendly people he'd met here, the others left him feeling uneasy. Especially after what Minhyuk had said about Changkyun using him by name as an example.

The white haired male glanced over the group, "If you're ready to go, I'd suggest you make it quick. Master Kyun can be a little... unstable... at times. It'd be best to go before he changes his mind." He remarked, "I wish you luck, Master Hongjoong."

He dipped into a bow before turning and leaving the hangar. Hongjoong only watched him leave before shaking his head and climbing onboard the ship. The rest followed onboard.

Once he stepped into the ship, Hongjoong quickly made his way to the cockpit, Seonghwa following close behind. As soon as they got into the room, Seonghwa immediately got into the pilot's seat and started to prepare for liftoff.

As soon as they were out of the hangar and halfway into space, Hongjoong breathed out a sigh of relief. The weight in his chest suddenly lifted, and it felt like he could breathe once again. As soon as they made it past the atmosphere of Telos, the two let out a shout of triumph. They had finally made it out.

"Oh thank goodness that's over with," Seonghwa remarked, pressing a button on the console and pushing himself out of his seat. Hongjoong nodded. "I have us on autopilot," Seonghwa informed him, "Right now I have us on course for where STAR 1117 used to be, I figure they won't be too happy to see us on the Citadel Station. Once we know where we’re going I can turn us around."

Hongjoong nodded, "All right, I think that Eden and Jongho are resting off the last of the sedative, so maybe we should try and figure out a plan..."

The two sat in silence and thought for a moment, "We could try Nar Shaddaa," The pilot finally spoke, "There's plenty of people there, it's easy to get lost in the crowd. And since we have a ship, we can get some odd jobs done and earn credits that way too..."

Hongjoong shook his head, "Too risky. The Exchange is constantly patrolling the planet, if they got me it'd be game over. Maybe Tatooine? Or Naboo? They're on the other side of the Galaxy and have a need for ships too."

Seonghwa nodded, "Those could work..."

Their conversation was interrupted by MD's sudden chirping from down the hall, and Hongjoong could tell from the sound of it that the droid was not happy. The Jedi glanced at Seonghwa, before glancing down the hall once more. The angry chirping continued for a little longer, Hongjoong barely able to make out what the droid was saying, only bits and pieces in between like "I thought I told you to stay off my ship!" and "Dirty rotten thief!"

It was only after the loud screech of pain, one that definitely could not have come from a droid, that Hongjoong dashed down the hall into the main room of the ship. What he found caught him completely off guard.

In the room, cornered by MD-DX and clutching his arm, was one of Changkyun's guards. The one who has escorted Hongjoong to Changkyun's quarters. He seemed far less intimidating then he had at the academy, cornered by a small Astromech Droid and cursing at it aggressively.

"You piece of shit rust bucket, what was that for?!" He yelled, glaring at the droid at his feet. The droid angrily chirped back, raising his shock arm out of its slot.

"You wouldn't dare," he hissed, the droid only shocked him once again. The male yelped and kicked the droid, sending it rolling across the room. The droid let out a screech as it rolled into the opposite wall. The male let out a "HA!" as the droid smacked into the metal, rubbing at his thigh where the droid shocked him.

Seonghwa had caught up to Hongjoong and they both stared at the scene in front of them. Somehow, the droid and human didn't notice them, both being far too wrapped up in their squabble. It was only after the male kicked MD in the head that the two decided to intervene. Seonghwa marched right up behind the male and grabbed him by the shoulders and quickly pinned him to the floor. Hongjoong ran across the room to MD-DX and held the droid in place.

"Just what do you think you're doing to my droid?!" Hongjoong asked, trying his best to not become enraged at the intruder on the ship.

The male struggled against Seonghwa's grip, "The damn thing started it!"

MD chirped angrily and struggled against Hongjoong's grip, "I will swear if I fucking want to!" The male yelled at the droid, shooting it a glare of hatred.

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "Okay that's it, both of you need to calm down. Hwa, go lock him in the cargo hold."

Seonghwa nodded, ignoring the screech of "WHAT?!" from the male under him. He quickly grabbed the male by the collar of his shirt and started dragging him in the direction of the cargo hold, ignoring the protests from the other. It was only after Seonghwa returned empty handed that Hongjoong released the droid.

MD-DX let out a beep of annoyance as Hongjoong sighed, "Okay, what exactly happened?"

The droid let out all sorts of beeps and chirps, and Hongjoong had a hard time keeping up with what the droid was saying. After a minute or so of chirps, Hongjoong finally had a basic understanding of what had happened.

"So he's the one who stole the ship earlier? And you caught him sneaking around just now?" Hongjoong asked. MD beeped in confirmation. "All right, thank you for defending the ship. We can take it from here. Why don't you go check on Jongho and Eden for us while we take care of him," He patted the droid's head before turning to Seonghwa and saying, "Looks like we have a stowaway to deal with first..."

The two made their way to the cargo hold and prepared themselves as Seonghwa unlocked the hold. The two stepped inside to see the male sitting on the floor, rubbing at his arm. As soon as the two entered, he looked up at them and glared.

Hongjoong ignored the look and sat down on the floor across from the male, Seonghwa took a seat next to Hongjoong and crossed his arms over his chest. The room was silent for another moment before the male tore his gaze away and stared at the ground, still rubbing at his arm.

"Wanna explain what you're doing on my ship?" Hongjoong asked. The male grumbled something under his breath. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

The male rolled his eyes, "...Your droid is an ass," He finally mumbled.

"He was doing his job, which is to protect the ship from intruders. Like you," Seonghwa remarked.

The teen turned to glare at the pilot, "I just wanted out! I was just going to tag a ride until you got to some planet and then get off, I swear."

Seonghwa glared back, "Watch it, you're lucky we haven't thrown you out the airlock yet after that stunt you pulled."

Hongjoong ignored the pilot's remark, instead focusing on what the male said, "Wanted out?" He asked. The male nodded.

"That place is awful! Master Kyun took me from my parents because he said I was sensitive to the Force and that I was dangerous." The male responded, "Everyone there treats me super weird and they give me these weird drugs and I hate it."

Hongjoong only stared in shock as the other continued, "I didn't have a way out for years cause Master Kyun never allows visitors and the one shuttle we have is on major security lockdown. So when we got your ship, I was going to take it and leave. And then you showed up to take it back so I snuck in and was going to sneak off at the next planet..."

The male rubbed his arm and went back to staring at the ground. Hongjoong and Seonghwa looked at each other, then back to the male.

"You're sensitive to the Force?" Hongjoong asked.

The male nodded, "Yeah, sort of. Not as much right now, they were injecting me with some kind of drug that shuts out the Force. I can't hear it when they dose me up on it, I had my last dose three days ago so I can kind of feel it. It's barely there though," He paused for a moment, "I don't remember what it's called, but it was called Tetra-something or other. At least I think it was called that, I only ever heard it called by name once..."

"Tetrodotoxin?" Hongjoong asked.

The male thought for a moment, "...I think so? That one sounds familiar..."

"Probably was a mix then," Seonghwa butted in, "Tetrodotoxin on its own would have knocked you unconscious for a few days and is incredibly difficult to find in its purest form. They probably mixed it with Trimethylxanthine to keep you awake and to make what amount they could get last longer, they'd only need to use a drop that way."

"How often do they give it to you?" Hongjoong asked, folding his hands in his lap.

The male thought for a moment, "About every other week."

Hongjoong nodded before going silent to think. The room became quiet as the Jedi thought to himself. The younger male began fidgeting with the braid tucked behind his ear and twisted it in his fingers as he waited for someone to break the silence.

"What's your name?" Hongjoong finally asked, breaking the silence.

"San."

"All right San." Hongjoong said, "I'll make you a deal. You can tag along with us until that dose wears off, and once it does we'll drop you off on any planet you'd like."

At that, San dropped the braid and looked up at Hongjoong in shock, "Really? Thank you-"

"However," Hongjoong interrupted, "I should warn you, being Force Sensitive and out in the world like that is very dangerous. Especially with the bounty on Jedi right now. Which is why I also want to offer an alternative..."

San began fidgeting with his braid again, "I'll let you join me, and I'll train you in the ways of the Force. You'll have protection, shelter, anything else that you need," Hongjoong offered, "The choice is yours. Take as much time as you need to decide, once you know then you can come find me."

With that, Hongjoong pushed himself off of the ground and motioned for Seonghwa to follow along, and the two left the other to think things through. They made their way back to the main room and sat down in two of the seats along the wall.

"You know Seonghwa," Hongjoong remarked, "That offer I gave San also applies to you. You're under no obligation to stay if you'd rather not be wrapped up with a bunch of Jedi."

Seonghwa chuckled, "Don't you need a pilot though?"

"I've flown this thing before, I think I could manage if you wanted to dash off to Nar Shaddaa to play Pazaak or something like that," Hongjoong responded.

"Nice try princess, you won't ditch me that easily." The pilot answered, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, "You're gonna be stuck with me for a long time, I'm staying."

Hongjoong laughed, "Worth a shot."

Their moment was interrupted by MD-DX, who rolled into the room and to Hongjoong, letting out all sorts of chirps and beeps.

"Huh?" Hongjoong asked, "MD, slow down. You're going too fast."

MD began chirping again, much slower this time. Hongjoong's eyes widened.

"You got access to Changkyun's archives?! How?"

***

MD beeped again before rolling to the Holoplayer in the center of the room and plugging himself into the machine. A small video began playing, the grainy quality showing its age.

Wordlessly, Hongjoong pushed himself off of the chair and moved to stand in front of the recording. Seonghwa was not far behind.

As soon as he approached, Hongjoong recognized the video. It was a recording of his trial and exile. Hongjoong wasn't even aware there was a recording, or he assumed that if there was it was long lost or destroyed after the Jedi Civil War. The fact that Changkyun had bothered to keep it, let alone to store it in a massive database in the middle of a hidden facility made a shudder go through his body.

Watching the video had made Hongjoong's chest tighten with anxiety, all of the emotions that he had pushed to the side and tried to forget for the last five years all suddenly came flooding back. Memories of the war, of Namjoon and Chanyeol, of those he'd fought alongside all came back like a tidal wave.

Once the recording ended, Hongjoong collapsed to the floor. The tightening in his chest had made it almost impossible to breathe, almost as if he were drowning. His heart felt like it was trying to escape his chest with how fast it was beating, and it felt like everything around him was spinning. He felt as if he were going to vomit.

Suddenly, like a sudden break in his panic, Seonghwa's voice broke through his panic, "Hongjoong, I need you to focus on my voice, okay? I need you to breathe in."

Hongjoong tried his best to follow Seonghwa's voice, breathing in and out like the pilot instructed. It took some time, but soon Hongjoong was to the point that he could at least breathe without the tightness in his chest. After a few more times of breathing like Seonghwa instructed, the Jedi felt somewhat more clear headed then before.

"Are you alright?" Seonghwa asked as his hand rubbed circles in between Hongjoong's shoulders.

Hongjoong nodded, still shaking from the experience, "Just... Bad memories."

Seonghwa hummed, still rubbing between the Jedi's shoulders as he calmed himself down. As soon as he felt somewhat back to normal, Hongjoong pushed himself from the floor and leaned against the holo player. Seonghwa wordlessly stood up and moved to the other side of the machine. The Jedi tapped his fingers against the metal sides for a moment before turning to MD, who was still plugged in.

***

"Was there anything else in his files?" Hongjoong finally asked. MD chirped in response and began to pull up more data on screen.

Text files about Jedi history, old pictures and videos of the Jedi Temple and the Enclave, various reports over the years about the Mandalorian Wars and Jedi Civil War, pretty much an entire history of the Jedi. Hongjoong glanced through each of them for a bit before moving on to the next, until one file caught his attention. A small text file, almost completely unnoticeable. It was barely a kb of data, and was named **_test_file.txt_ ** in the system. Something about it struck Hongjoong as odd, especially considering it was in the archives of important Jedi information from Changkyun, who never kept useless information in a database. Especially something as small as a text file. Something about the file gave Hongjoong a feeling.

"Hey MD, can you open that test file?" Hongjoong asked, MD beeped in response and opened it.

Inside was nothing more than gibberish. Just strings of incomprehensible text that looked as if someone smashed their hands against a keyboard and accidentally saved it into the system. The only reason that Hongjoong hadn't immediately closed out was due to something in the document catching his eye.

**buxyiksfsxtomaczxalzrozptpgrlhruxpwwslopclnpkpfbwkfmjohbeeigzlxpvcealxbdwfdwqnmpsewijwfvpbewmgvxrptgjhjpswfyvvdebavnkatnjeprksbzrkusnzotuhj**

**cbrxnqwhbxmhmwcvglhvgmshid**

**ddebwcbvbomabvcqxjirwmv**

**btgyevyxmyzhxtcf**

**dpqbmjmzcrpskwb**

**ahrjicftksafrtcgakitiikth**

**uhrxgpsabedgairqth**

**rvsefgwbbkaydigurfcbhmutesgh**

**fvsefgmyrezhhwwax**

**epyrqjwezsmonvuh**

**elitliwewrzouwcqxjirwmv**

**dpqxyszrcrwckzwotuhvgmshid**

**rvsefwjntpafkcaqxjirwmv**

**There is no emotion, there is peace.**

**There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.**

**There is no passion, there is serenity.**

**There is no chaos, there is harmony.**

**There is no death, there is the Force.**

**Kang Ji Hyun**

Putting the Jedi code in a document with a string of random text seemed odd, but what made it more strange was the name at the bottom. Kang Jihyun was Changkyun's predecessor, she was in charge of the Jedi Archives on Dantooine. She was bubbly and always so full of energy, despite her job consisting of keeping records and scouring for old texts if people needed it. Hongjoong still remembered the way her black and gold robes would swish around as she walked through the shelves of archives.

If Jihyun was the one who made the file, it would make even less sense that she hadn't deleted it after her testing. She was incredibly orderly and meticulous with her system, she would never have left a file there that wasn't important.

So why was it there?

"Isn't that the Jedi Code at the bottom?" Seonghwa asked, startling Hongjoong out of his thoughts.

"Yeah,"Hongjoong answered, his focus going to the text at the bottom. It seemed very out of place compared to the rest of the file. Especially considering the rest was a mishmash of letters.

Seonghwa glanced over the file once more, "Actually," He remarked, "I don't think that's gibberish. The more I look at it, it looks way too organized to be a keyboard smash."

Hongjoong shot his head up, eyes wide, "You think it's a code?"

"Probably a type that needs a key to decipher. They put the Jedi Code there in plain text, so that's probably the key. I'd assume it's an Autokey, most likely a Running Key Cipher." Seonghwa explained, "Do we have a datapad around here?"

Hongjoong nodded before dashing into the Cockpit, grabbing a datapad from there and running back. He passed it to Seonghwa and watched. The Pilot opened a notes file and began copying down the strands of gibberish into the app, then typing out the Jedi Code below it word for word without spaces. Then Seonghwa really got to work, fingers flying across the screen as he worked to figure out what it meant. After a few minutes of decoding, Seonghwa finally passed back the Datapad.

"I think I got it, but there weren't any spaces in the decoded text, so I had to guess and try to make it make sense."

Hongjoong took the datapad in his hands and read what was on it aloud,

**In the case that something happens and the Jedi Council must be re-united, their last known locations are below. Do not allow this information to fall into the wrong hands. If this information is compromised, the Galaxy will be doomed.**

**Jung Ji-eun - Tattooine (DECEASED)**

**Kwak Sujin - Kamino (DECEASED)**

**Im Changkyun - Telos**

**Kim Kibum - Onderon**

**Han Seungwoo - Ryloth (DECEASED)**

**Bang Chan - Nar Shaddaa**

**Yoon Byeong-ok - Kashyyyk (DECEASED)**

**Moon Byul - Dantooine**

**Lee Yu Bin - Atowonol**

**Lee Chae-rin - Naboo (DECEASED)**

**Kim Gukheon - Korriban (DECEASED)**

**Yoon Bora - Florrum (DECEASED)**

**Kang Ji Hyun**

**There is no emotion, there is peace.**

**There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.**

**There is no passion, there is serenity.**

**There is no chaos, there is harmony.**

**There is no death, there is the Force.**

Hongjoong looked up from the datapad to Seonghwa, "Oh my god..."

The two turned back to the holo player, which still had the scrambled information, then back to the datapad in Hongjoong's hands.

"That's..." Seonghwa trailed off.

"This is amazing!" Hongjoong exclaimed, "I thought they all had died in the Jedi Civil War, but some are still alive!"

Seonghwa only stared as Hongjoong continued, "If we know where the Jedi Council members are, that means that we can bring them together and stop the Sith! Maybe we can even rebuild the Jedi Order!"

Hongjoong rushed out of the room with the datapad in his hands, letting out a screech of joy as he ran towards the dorms. Seonghwa watched him leave before running a hand through his hair and turning to the cockpit.

"Just what have you gotten yourself into, Hwa..." he mumbled under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for leaving you all waiting for so long! I've had the absolute worst block since about February, and with everything else going on right now in the world, it has not been a great year for me creatively. I struggled with being able to work on this so badly that this doc basically went untouched from about early March to mid-August. My state was one of the first shut down due to COVID and I already do horribly in the summer months as far as writing goes, so this didn't help in the slightest.
> 
> I finally kicked my writer's block sometime last week and ended up marathon writing about 11k words in a week... Which, is absolutely insane to think about...
> 
> Huge thanks once again to Kay, who somehow beta read both chapters in a few hours and was the main reason this was able to be released tonight. Also huge shout out to CAW, who let me talk all their ears off about lightsabers for hours on end... 😅

**Author's Note:**

> Beta Reader: [@MonrohaKay](https://twitter.com/MonrohaKay)  
> (you can also find their fics under the name [Monroha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monroha/pseuds/Monroha)  
> here on AO3!)  
> Information about Fic: [Carrd](https://lastditcheffortfic.carrd.co)  
> [Last Ditch Effort OST](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3bNnRRvCvc20XyCbGRCmTO?si=crXeWVJtTBe77Xc793qi7w)


End file.
